


Chara isn't a Very Good Life Coach Either

by Sparowswan



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 04:05:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 35,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6889252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparowswan/pseuds/Sparowswan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written with @allegedllama on tumblr. A fan-fiction of the fan-fiction "Flowey is not a Good Life Coach" by unrestedjade. An au in which Frisk falls down just after the events of chapter 23.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Flowey Is Not a Good Life Coach](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5056333) by [unrestedjade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unrestedjade/pseuds/unrestedjade). 



"Boy, you have really crappy timing."

Everything was falling into place. Papyrus was emotionally shot, and was in no state to fight anything, and then they stumbled across Sans. Of all the monsters they could’ve encountered, it was the weakest, the stupidest and the monster Papyrus wanted to protect the most.

It was perfect.

It was such a perfect setup that it almost broke the endless grey of his soulless form. If he could get Papyrus to do this, then he would be unstoppable.

He opened his mouth to say something, to goad Papyrus on, remind him of the consequences, when a sharp jolt of pain jabbed through his head. He knew what that meant. He had felt the very same sensation many times before.

The Human.

He debated the options for a while. He could just not show up, but...

The pain returned, almost blurring his vision with it's intensity. His choice had been made for him, long before this moment.

"Really crappy timing indeed." He said to Sans, with what he hoped was a sympathetic smile. Then he ducked into the dirt, heading quickly to the ruins. He hoped that the situation he had just left led to something interesting, but it was beyond his control now.

Flowey surfaced where he always did, the small patch of the ground that was illuminated by some hole far above his head. The natural lighting made the dust particles suspended in the air glow a soft silver, making their delicate dance something beautiful. The first few times Flowey had found himself here, he watched the dust for a long while. Something about their random, unpredictable paths and behaviors caught his attention. Now, however, he didn’t even glance away from the doorway that he knew the human would come through.

He heard a soft rustle from the other side of the doorway. A few moments later, the human walked slowly through the archway.

The human was young, this time. Or at any rate, they were slightly smaller. Flowey never really cared much about the slight changes that they went through from all the different runs. They were all the same person, just in a slightly different form. The small changes from each run all translated to a slightly different human.

"You sure do have bad timing!" Flowey said, with mock cheerfulness. This human had ruined the best chance of actually doing something with his toy, and he was not going to let that go unaddressed. "I was in the middle of something very important, but I suppose that someone has to show you around the underground. And since no one else seems to be available, I guess I'll have to do it!"

He pulled the human into battle, their soul shining a bright red. The soft glow illuminated their face ever so softly, twisting the young innocent face into something older, and more tired, almost sinister looking

Flowey suddenly wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

Without warning he let loose an onslaught of bullets. The human reacted quickly, dodging his attack with skill. The shadow over their face left as soon as the battle started, moving with the light of their soul. Flowey let loose another wave of bullets, which the human dodged again.

"I guess you know your way around this place." Flowey muttered sourly. "Let's see of you can beat this?"

His bullets circled the human entirely, circling them menacingly. They slowly closed in around the human, making them look around anxiously. They had no escape, no way to dodge or counter the attack. Flowey had to admit, he loved this part. Or at least he used to, before it bored him.

The fireball hit him sooner than he expected. Although it didn’t hurt, the heat did make him let out a small yelp. The fire sputtered out quickly, leaving a small black charred mark. It would heal up really easily.

As he watched Toriel fuss over the small child, the endless grey shifted again. This time it was much less pleasant. He ducked into the dirt again, his job done, and went to find something else to do.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Once Flowey left, Papyrus fell to his knees. The emotional stress was really wearing him down. And Sans....

Sans rushed up to him, reaching out to help Papyrus. As soon as Papyrus felt his brother’s hands grabbing him, he jolted up. He scrambled away from Sans yelling something about being dangerous. His mouth and his mind seemed to be disconnected, like some vital process that his mind usually did automatically was missing, resulting in words he didn't understand and a voice he didn't recognize.

Sans hung back, unsure of what to do. Even through Papyrus' blurred and narrow vision he could see his mind working on his face, debating and weighing his options. The last thing Papyrus wanted was for his brother to get hurt because of him.

"I'm too- I'm not-" He forced his mind to concentrate on talking and nothing more. It was the only way to get his message across.

"If you help me, you'll get hurt." He managed to whisper. It didn't seem to faze Sans, so he tried again.

"I’ll only end up hurting you and everyone else!" Sans reached forward to help Papyrus up, his face not showing any sign that he had heard Papyrus at all.

"STOP HELPING ME! I'M NOT WORTH IT!" Papyrus yelled, shoving Sans' hand away. He stood up on his own, his legs just barely supporting him.

"Yes you are Paps." Sans said in that infuriating patronizing voice that he used all too often. He took a few steps toward Papyrus. "You need to get back to town. Right now."

Papyrus' mind went blank. He couldn't see, couldn’t breath. Why was Sans telling him what to do? Did he not see the danger he was putting himself in? Didn't he care? Did he even stop to think about the consequences that this would have?

The sudden wet cold that smacked across his knees told him he had fallen into the snow again. The wet warmth on his cheeks told him he was crying again. He didn't care about either fact.

He could feel Sans grab his arm and try to pull him back to town. They both knew that that would never work. They both knew that Sans was too weak. He could hear Sans' cursing as he tried again to pull Papyrus to his feet. Too weak. He could hear his begging, feel his hands as he tried again and again. Too weak.

He was too weak.

I'm too weak. Papyrus thought suddenly. I'm too weak to beat Flowey, to stop him, or to even ask for help.

I deserve to hurt.

Suddenly a familiar sound pulled Papyrus out of his own mind. It was the eerie sound of a blaster being summoned. Then a strong jaw was picking him up, carefully positioning him so that none of the abundant teeth that lined the inside of the mouth would hurt the skeleton. And then they were moving out, back to the town.

That was when Papyrus lost consciousness


	2. Chapter 2

Papyrus was woken to the sounds of yelling.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he heard someone scream. Was it Undyne? He couldn't tell, his head was still pounding, and his eyes were too heavy to open.

"He's already doing bad enough as it is, at least let him stay asleep," he heard Sans - that was definitely Sans - say quietly. There was a broken, almost disconnectedness of his voice. Papyrus heard the blaster dissipate and felt himself on the cold ground.

"Papyrus, Papyrus, are you alright? Can you hear me?" Undyne asked, her face coming into focus above his head, her voice gentler than usual. Papyrus managed a small grunt in response, hoping that would be enough for now. He didn't want to talk.

There would be too many questions. Ones he wouldn't answer. Ones he couldn't answer. He just wanted to sleep, go to bed knowing that Sans was in the next room over, there if he needed anything. He used to be able to go to his brother for anything, but now…

"What did you do to him?" Undyne growled, whirling to Sans. Sans took a step back and glanced at Papyrus.

"I didn't - I just found him. Started yelling at me to get away, then this little yel-" Sans started and Papyrus jerked, trying to bring himself to a sitting position.

"Don't!" Papyrus yelled, getting surprised looks from the small crowd that has gathered, some taking a step away. Sans looked at Papyrus confused, but stopped.

"Sans, what did you see?" Undyne asked, stepping towards him, too close for comfort.

"Nothing," Sans replied easily, looking Undyne in the eye.

"You saw something, what was it?"

"Trick of the light, probably,"

"Well, what was it?"

"Looked like something dripping out of his armor, but it's not there now, so it couldn't have been there before," Papyrus was impressed, his brother was as quick with lies as he was with puns. He caught Alphys looking at him and tried to look confused instead. Papyrus couldn't see Undyne's face, but he guessed she wasn't convinced. The good thing was she backed off.

"I- I want to go home and sleep," Papyrus managed to get out, getting Undyne's attention away from his brother.

"Of course, let's get you up," Undyne said, rushing to help him stand. Undyne got him up, supporting most of the weight and started to lead him home.

"Get him back in the shed," Undyne called over her shoulder to the dogs as Sans moved to follow. Papyrus looked back and saw Sans stop, dropping his head slightly. Nobody else would notice this, but growing up with someone, you start to learn what their normal demeanor looks like.

"No, no. He- I need him," Papyrus said, reaching an arm back to Sans.

"But- Papyrus-"

"It wasn't him!" Papyrus hissed sharply at Undyne. Undyne opened her mouth to reply, but then thought better of it and closed it.

"Fine. Let him come, but someone is to keep an eye on him at all times, understood?" Undyne said, looking in between the brothers. Both nodded, and Sans hurried forward to try to help shoulder some of his brother’s weight. He wasn't strong enough, both knew that, but having his brother pressed against his side made Papyrus both relieved and anxious.

He couldn't tell which was stronger.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Flowey returned to the spot where he left the two skeletons. They were gone, as expected. It didn't matter, Papyrus would return, just like he always did. It might take some time, but he would be back. And when he was back, he would regret leaving. He may have prolonged the inevitable, but he couldn't stall it forever. Now he just had to wait.

At this point, he knew how long he had to wait for the human to be alone. Wait for Toriel to leave the child alone, then he could periodically check up on them. However, this would have to be dealt with…differently. He was not going to let this human ruin chances for him. He was so close to getting Papyrus to actually kill something, it was bound to be interesting. Not only that, but they interrupted what could have been the greatest opportunity of this run.

While he waited, he might as well check up on what was happening with the Papyrus situation. After all, he had to make sure his favorite toy was okay. He figured Sans would have taken him home, so he went up along the main road and saw a crowd of monsters talking. Damn. Missed them. At least he could hear what happened.

"That skull thing-"

"Could have killed him-"

"Too dangerous to let him near-"

"Blinded because it's his brother, that's what-"

Ah. This is interesting. The brother, Sans, must have brought Papyrus back in a blaster. How...innovative. He knew he wasn't strong enough, yet still wanted to help. And perhaps Sans is allowed with Papyrus, and the town still thinks Sans is the one hurting Papyrus. This is excellent. Flowey quickly ducked down, hoping to get to the brothers' house before they did.

He didn't have to wait long to see them. Undyne shouldering most of Papyrus' weight, Sans "helping". How touching. Who is he trying to convince that he can be helpful here, himself or his brother? Probably both. Flowey watched as Undyne carried Papyrus in. Once they were inside, Flowey knew it was too risky to follow. Papyrus - and Sans now - would be on much to high of a lookout for him. Flowey sighed and left to wait by the ruins. Not to go in - no, it was much too early, but to wait and plan.

He couldn't let that human get past. They would ruin everything. How many times had they reset already? Flowey himself had reset so many times he was forgetting which resets were his and which the humans. It didn't matter, if they knew and were able to dodge his "friendliness pellets" then they had already come through at least once. That meant they would know something was "wrong" with Papyrus and try to fix it.

No.

"I've worked too hard for this, I have to convince them...stay in the ruins? No, someone always intercepts and makes them continue. Something else...I could make Toriel sick, at least it will give me a little more time," Flowey said looking at the ruins door. It was cutting it close, but he could go to check on the human, then after Toriel.

Flowey popped up behind the pillar Toriel always hid behind to see the progress. To his surprise, something new was happening. Frisk had stopped Toriel and was frantically signing to her. They were going too fast for Flowey to make out everything (not to mention the fact he hadn't had a reason to use sign language in years), but he got what the human was saying.

'Don't go........need to help someone.......Can't do it...........alone'

Oh no. Did they already...? No. Impossible. They couldn't possibly know. Flowey watched as Toriel's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, my child, are you sure?" She asked. Flowey frowned. She was always a sucker for humans. Frisk was frantically nodding and clutched Toriel's skirt. Toriel wrapped them in a hug and told them she would help.

So much for the plan. Maybe... maybe we'll see what the human does and reset later... Flowey smiled as he went back to his own save point.

________________________________________________________________________________

Papyrus woke late in the evening. He looked and saw his brother still sitting beside his bed, him asleep as well. After Undyne brought him home earlier, it had taken them ages to get her to let them stay in a room together. She was probably her outside the room right now, listening for anything she seemed suspicious.

"I'm sure if I try to break his arm you'll hear him scream," Sans had yelled the night before when she had wanted to stay in too. Papyrus had told her he would be fine and just to stay outside and she had unwillingly agreed. After she left, Sans looked like he was going to cry, but he put on a smile.

"Why don't I read you a book to help you sleep?" He had asked. Papyrus hadn't known what to say. He looked at his brother, and eventually shaken his head. He wasn't going to make his brother pretend.

His brother.

What had he done? Papyrus let his head knock against the headboard.

His brother. Everyone thought he had been abusing Papyrus. Papyrus wanted to scream. He had made his brother into this awful figure in the eyes of the public, what would he do?

He wouldn't be able to find work or get any money and this was his house how were they going to pay for it? He might still get thrown in jail and he wouldn't even get to know-

"Breathe," Sans' voice cut through his thoughts. Papyrus looked and saw his magic curling around towards Sans. Papyrus laughed and then he couldn't stop. He was laughing and crying because what was he going to do? He ruined Sans' life and his life was messed up so much that-

"Breathe, Paps, it's ok. Just concentrate on your breathing," Sans said, laying a gentle hand on Papyrus' back. Papyrus started concentrating on Sans' hand. It was there grounding him, giving him something to tether to. He couldn't get out of control and he wouldn't. After he was breathing normally, Sans smiled gently.

"I'll go get food," he said standing. As he left the room, there was a rattle of armor moving.

"I'm just getting him food, or am I not fu-" the rest of the sentence was cut off by the door closing, but Papyrus could infer the rest. Papyrus shook his head. Maybe he could take tonight off, but without Sans working he would have to get back at it tomorrow. They needed the money. Papyrus groaned, thinking of all the reading he would have to do. There was no way Sans would help him.

Then there was Flowey.

He was going to have to face him at some point. Maybe it wouldn't be today or tomorrow or the day after that, but it was going to happen. He didn't have a choice with that. Flowey was not going to be happy. Maybe it was better to face him now. Just get it over with, protect his friends and family.

Papyrus hadn't realized he had gotten up, but he found himself face to face with Sans, who was in the doorway.

"Uh, where you going, bro?" Sans asked looking confused and worried.

"Out," Papyrus said, trying to move past.

"No way. You need food and probably more sleep,"

"Sans, I'm fine," Papyrus sighed, trying to get past.

"As much as I hate to agree, your brother's right. You're staying here," Undyne said coldly. Papyrus sighed and looked between the two.

"Fine. But you can't keep me here forever," Papyrus said sitting on his bed. A flash of hurt registered on Sans' face.

"That's not what-"

"I know, I'm sorry. I just-" Papyrus started, but didn't know how to finish.

"I know. Here," Sans said, giving Papyrus some warmed up spaghetti. Papyrus smiled thankfully before he began eating.

 

"You know, if you want I could try doing some of those reports if you want," Sans said, looking towards the computer.

"You- what?"

"You've obviously had something happen to you, even if you're not going to say what. I can do some of them so you're not behind," Sans told him, turning to Papyrus.

"Well, I don't know. It's supposed to be my work, and you've gone through...stuff...too. How about you just help me tomorrow? I mean, if you're really-" Papyrus started, trying to be careful with his words. He hurts too much with his actions, he can't with his words anymore.

"Of course, yeah, that sounds great! Tomorrow we'll start?" Sans replied, perking up insstantly.

"Yes, I'm still too tired, and you look like you could sleep as well," Papyrus said glancing at Sans to measure his reaction.

"Paps, I could always sleep. Move over, my back is killing me," Sans said, crawling in beside Papyrus.

"Thank you, Sans,"

"Anytime, bro,"

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

Flowey watched as Frisk and Toriel emerged from the exit of the ruins. He was really mad now. He knew that there was a minuscule chance that Frisk would have been able to convince the goat monster to leave the ruins. He had watched as they had tried and failed to get Toriel to join them on their trip across the underground on past runs. Every single time they had been unsuccessful.

Expect for this time.

The one time that Flowey had been counting on Toriel’s absence, she decided to come along.

Perfect.

The pair walked slowly along the road, and Flowey watched them go. With his plans ruined, and no other options presenting themselves, he didn't have much of a choice. He supposed he could reset the timeline, but, Papyrus had come so far. He was so close to actually being useful, so he pushed that idea back. Besides, with the human there, he probably wouldn't even be able to. He would just have to observe Frisk and make sure they didn't mess anything up any further.

As they walked down the path, the air around them changed. The stale, hot dry air of the ruins quickly transformed into the crisp cold wind that Snowdin was famous for. Flowey was quite used to the different climates of the Underground, and expected the human to be too. After all, they weren't exactly new to this either. So he was surprised when the human started to shiver, clutching their sweater close to themselves. From his hidden vantage point, Flowey could even hear their teeth chattering.

"What are they doing?" Flowey muttered to himself, squinting to try to see better.

"Oh, you poor child." Toriel said, scooping up the human. "I should've gotten some warmer clothes for you."

'It is fine.' Frisk signed, but allowed themselves to be carried along the road.

"Of course" Flowey said, rolling his eyes. The human was still playing their part. But why? They had gotten what they wanted. The stupid human-loving goat was tagging along, so why put on this show?

The curiosity of unanswered questions wasn't enough to keep Flowey occupied however. He hated watching people go along their everyday lives, and this was no exception.

He ducked under the dirt, looking for somewhere else to go, and something else to do. When he resurfaced, he found himself in Waterfall.

Far above him, makeshift stars twinkled and shone, casting a very faint light onto the bleak cavern walls. The water did a better job of illuminating the area, its mysterious blue glow spreading its mystery onto every surface it touched. Many monsters loved to sit among the glowing waters and think, or dream, or wish. Flowey hated Waterfall, but despite himself, he stayed and watched the lights that inspired everyone else to wish for a better life.


	3. Chapter 3

For once in his life, Sans had woken up before Papyrus. He was reading over the reports, squinting at some of them trying to make them out.

Now he really felt like an ass. If he was having such a hard time reading them, he could only guess at how Papyrus must've felt trying to read them. Papyrus watched his brother read them until he let his head fall to the table.

"Sans? If it's too much trouble, you don't have to-"

"No, no. It's just," Sans laughed, "some of these guardsmen have really bad penmanship," at this point Sans was laughing so hard he was near tears. Papyrus couldn't help it, he started laughing too. He didn't know why, but he couldn't stop. It wasn't even funny, this would make their work harder.

This thought snapped Papyrus out of it.

Not our, my work. Sans doesn't need to do it. Considering what I've done, he shouldn't even be helping. These thoughts bounced in his head for a few seconds, but he tried to shake them away. They weren't gone, but subdued. For now, at least.

"A-alright. I'm done. I'm done. Should we start this?" Sans asked, sitting to look at Papyrus, motioning to the paper.

A distraction. Perfect.

"Yes! Let’s get started.”

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Flowey sighed, looking at the lights. He didn't know why, but it made him think of the human. Not the one here now, no, his human. Chara. The one he rarely thought about.

They hated humanity, but still were trying to give him hope for a time to come. They probably had sat in this exact-

That's enough. Enough thinking of days in the past. The human, this one. Are they messing with his plans? If they are, he'll have to fix that, won't he? Flowey quickly went back to Snowdin and searched for them.

He found them in the shop, the human clutching Toriel's skirt. Still keeping up this act? Won't need to last much longer. What were they doing though? Sure, the inn he could see, but knowing Toriel, she had made a pie for the human. Why not bring that?

Ah. That makes sense. A coat for Frisk. To keep them "warm". Frisk placed a hand to their mouth then extended it forwards and down, towards both Toriel and the shop keeper. The sign for thank you, if Flowey was right. Flowey hid in the alley as the two left the shop. The two, oblivious to whispers (or just stupid), headed into the inn. Toriel was probably going to feed Frisk, it was getting close to "lunch time".

Lunch time. What would Papyrus be eating? Spaghetti, probably. Might as well check on him, see how he's doing. After all, he had it rough, didn't he? Have to make sure his toy was still operating.

________________________________________________________________________________

 

"And that's the last one," Sans said, leaning back and dropping the paper. Papyrus watched as his brother leaned dangerously far back. He stifled a laugh, and sent the document to Alphys.

"And now I sleep. Want me to grab anything while I'm getting up?" Sans asked, leaning forward before his chair tipped.

"No, I'm alright. Thank you,"

"Alright, you know where I'll be," Sans replied, patting Papyrus on the back before leaving the room. Undyne entered moments after he left.

"Have you been the only one out there?" Papyrus asked, turning to face her.

"No,"

"Only guardsman or woman,"

"...yes. But that doesn't matter. Guess what I heard?" Undyne said, sitting on the chair Sans had just been in.

"What?"

"Apparently - this is according to that little kid, you know who I'm talking about, little horns, striped shirt? - Queen Toriel is back. That's not even the juiciest part," Undyne said, closing her hand in an attempt to stop Papyrus from talking.

"She has a human with her. A human! Just imagine that!" Undyne said jumping up.

"Both of them...?" Papyrus said, feeling detached all of a sudden. This was too much of a coincidence. He glanced around the room, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so he went along with Undyne.

"So does that mean..."

"Hell yeah, buddy! It's human hunting time! And as official royal guardsman Papyrus, you should be the one to get them!" Undyne said, jumping up and overturning her chair.

"What about-"

"Don't worry about it, I'll get it and bring it to Asgore. I'll tell him you worked very hard and that now you have other duties to attend to,"

 

"Are you sure? It's really no-"

________________________________________________________________________________

 

"Get the human! Get the human!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Papyrus said getting ushered out of his room. So the rumors had reached them. Flowey grinned. Sure, Papyrus suspected something, but he had no proof. Now, how's the human going to defend themselves? Flowey quickly went back to the inn to check and saw the end of a conversation.

'Surprise for you.' Frisk was signing.

"Of course, my child! I will wait here," Toriel replied. What was the kid doing? Didn't they know what was coming next, they had gone through so many runs? Flowey waited, watching through the window, until he saw them leaving out of the corner of his eye.

The kid had pulled their jackets hood over their head so no one would see their face. Clever, playing this lady so they could pass through undetected. He could respect that.

But something far more interesting was bound to come


	4. Chapter 4

After a thorough search through the town, Papyrus was stationed at the entrance to Waterfall. The idea was that they would station guardsmen and guardswomen all along the path to Asgore’s palace, and wait for the human’s arrival. To begin with, Papyrus was to wait on the path to Waterfall. According to their reports (or what monster kid told them) this would be where the human would go to next, if they were heading towards New Home.

Papyrus didn't mind the snow. Because he was a skeleton, the cold didn't affect him the same way it affected most monsters. But even he was beginning to hate this part of the Underground. Because of the fluctuation in temperature, humidity and climate, between Snowdin and Waterfall, the air would move rapidly, throwing powdery snow into the air, making it nearly impossible to see anything, let alone a human child.

The dry snow was getting everywhere, underneath his armor, in his boots, and even in his eye sockets. Although snow in his eyes didn't hurt or affect his vision, it was making him miserable.

Well, at least this can't get much worse. Papyrus thought grimly.

"Howdy, friend" A very familiar voice chirped.

Papyrus jumped, letting out a small yelp. He could hear Flowey's high pitched giggling. Instantly he knew that his troubles were far from over.

"So, human hunting." Flowey said through the white sheet of airborne snow. "That’s a pretty important job"

Papyrus didn't want to deal with Flowey right now. He especially didn't want to give himself a headache by trying to interpret his secretive way of talking, sorting through the riddles and hidden meanings that were everywhere in Flowey’s speech.

"Hey, are you still there?" Flowey was getting impatient.

"Yes." Papyrus said quickly. The sooner this was over with, the better.

"Well good. I have some stuff to tell you!" Flowey said cheerfully. Papyrus heard the sound of him cutting through the frozen ground closer to him. "The human is coming, and they will not be merciful. They will beat you, and they will kill you. And unlike me, you will not have a second chance at life"

Papyrus went cold. "Why are you telling me this?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Because, it doesn't have to be this way. Kill the human first, and you will survive." Flowey's voice lost its usual chirpy quality, and instead was sombre.

"I-I" Papyrus stuttered.

"I know, I know." Flowey said, his usual cheerful voice was back, sounding fake and thin. "You and your 'morals'. I'm just saying, if you care about yourself, Sans, Undyne, or anyone in the underground, you'll do your job."

Papyrus said nothing. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but found that he couldn't. Was he really putting everyone in danger by sparing one person? He didn't understand, couldn't understand.

Suddenly, the wind died down a bit, and Flowey was visible through the swirling snow. He looked angry, no.

He looked determined. 

Papyrus remembered a story told to him a long time ago, about a prince who was killed above the surface.

"Think about it." Flowey said, turning in the direction of the town. "But you don't have much time."

With the soft sound of moving dirt, he was gone.

Papyrus let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He glanced in the direction that Flowey had been looking in, and saw a dark smudge through the white screen of snow.

The smudge was moving towards him, slowly and surely. As it drew closer, Papyrus could make out the figure of a child walking through the snow in steady paces.

The human was coming.


	5. Chapter 5

The human stopped in front of Papyrus, their jacket pulled over their head. The constantly moving snow made seeing the details on their face difficult. They seemed to be waiting for Papyrus to make the first move. For a long moment, the two stared at each other, silent and still.

Finally, Papyrus spoke.

"Your journey ends here, human" He said. The human took a step back. "I have been ordered to capture you and take you to King Asgore, and that is what I am going to do."

The human widened their stance, and gripped the stick that was in their hand tightly. They were ready for battle. Taking a deep breath, Papyrus readied his magic.

He pulled the human soul into view. It glowed a bright red, illuminating the battlefield. The glow surprised Papyrus. He had never seen a soul do that, as all the monster souls were dull white.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he pulled his attacks out of the ground, the bones obeying his prompts immediately and without any difficulty at all. Despite himself, he smiled. His practices have been paying off after all.

He looked back at the human and saw that they were smiling too. It was a different smile though. It was not a smile of pride, or excitement, or nervous energy. It was not even an evil smile, like what Undyne sometimes did, as a joke. It was not the fake smiles that Sans always hid behind. It was not the horrible smile Flowey gave either. It was a true, genuine smile. A smile the like that Papyrus had not seen in a long time.

Shaken, Papyrus sent out the first attack.

The human barely dodged the attack. As the wave of bones flew towards them, they jumped to the side, but almost too slow. One of the bones hit their jacket. Their smile disappeared.

The next attack came, bones from the top and the bottom, creating a small opening to try and get through. The human jumped through the attack easily, but looked confused. They had a small frown on their face, and turned around to watch the attack go.

Seeing his opportunity, Papyrus charged his blue attack. Even the most experienced fighters would stumble when faced with blue magic. As they turned around, Papyrus sent an inescapable storm of blue-charged attacks at the small human.

Their eyes widened, open wide enough that Papyrus could see the whites of their eyes. It made them look older. They let out a cry and curled into the fetal position. And froze.

The blue attacks fazed harmlessly through them. As they passed, the red glow from their soul turned blue. When the attacks were gone, they slowly got to their feet, fighting against the increased gravity. They looked up at the skeleton, and got back into a fighting position. Papyrus looked down and locked eyes with the small human. Something was wrong about their eyes. They seemed too deep, too dark and too old for the small face that they belonged to. The human took a step forward, and Papyrus felt a jab of fear race all the way through his body.

His magic swirled through the air as he prepared his next attack. Suddenly, the human rushed forward, despite the effects of the blue magic. Papyrus sent the attacks flying. The human darted left and right, getting out of the way of the projectiles often a fraction of a second before the bone would touch them. They continued their path straight to Papyrus.

Papyrus' breath quickened. He suddenly realized that he did not want the human to get to him. He sent out another attack, a sea of bones all along the ground, racing straight towards the human. With only a second’s hesitation, they jumped.

The magic was too strong, and the attack too hopelessly long. They were not going to make it. The human knew this. Papyrus could see it in their face. They squeezed their eyes shut, and gritted their teeth.

They landed on the attack, the bones stabbing through their delicate body. They let out a cry of pain, and curled up again. Their soft sobs of pain were audible even from the skeletons position.

Papyrus felt like puking. He hadn't eaten much for his body to expel, but his stomach churned as he watched the human before him. He had hurt them, but it wasn’t enough. Flowey wanted them killed. Papyrus didn't want to kill them, but he knew the stories of humans and their deadly killing ways. For some reason, however, he didn't think this human was a murderer.

They were hurt.

The snow around them was starting to stain a deep red, not unlike the color of their soul. They moved around, rummaging for something in their jacket pockets, but that made the red spot grow more, spreading across the white ground.

Papyrus felt like puking.

He did nothing, however, except watch as the human pulled something out of their pocket. The sharp smell of cinnamon hit Papyrus, filling his senses until he could smell nothing else. It wasn't an unpleasant smell, but the intensity made his nausea worse.

The human took the source of the smell, a small slice of pie, and started to eat it in quick bites. When the food was gone, they stood up again, and readied for the fight to continue. Papyrus saw that the food had somehow healed the damage that his attacks had done. A rush of relief flooded through him, followed quickly by hot guilt. He wasn't supposed to want the human to survive. He was supposed to kill it.

Papyrus felt like puking.

Tiredly, he prepared his attacks again. The human started their approach again, slower this time, on the look out for his attacks. The battle continued.

Neither party could beat the other. The human continued to dodge Papyrus' attacks, and Papyrus didn't use any attacks that they couldn't dodge. The longer they fought, the less Papyrus wanted to kill them. Through their fight, he felt some sort of understanding with the human. They didn't want to kill him, as they never attacked, not even once. They were quite skilled, despite their age. They couldn't be more than 7 years old, but they moved quickly and deftly.

They were only a few steps away now, and Papyrus could see their face. Their eyes held none of the unsettling properties that he had seen before. Instead they were filled with concern. The fear that he had felt before was also gone, replaced with a dull numb sensation. He didn't even want to win anymore. He just wanted it to be over.

The human took another step closer, and Papyrus gave up. His prepared attacks fell unused to the ground, and he sank to his knees. His gloved hands sank slightly into the snow. He was done fighting.

He barely noticed the tears that fell down his face. Closing his eyes, he waited for the human's next move.

He felt the human take his hand. He opened his eyes in surprise and looked at the human. They were looking down at his arm. Confused, he followed their gaze.

He was wearing his armor, but his arms were exposed. He never liked covering his arms, preferring to have them be able to move freely. Before it had never been a problem. But now...

Cracks crisscrossed back and forth across his arm, a random array of scars and fresh wounds. Bruises and scuffed marks were common as well. But worse of all, a jagged thin line ran horizontally where his arm had broken. It hadn't healed very smoothly.

Looking at his own arm, he felt a strange feeling rise up in him. Guilt, shame and panic all mixed together into a horrible concoction. He suddenly hated his arm. He hated his own body.

The human gently traced the large crack with one of their fingers. Their fingertip barely brushed the line, and they looked back up at Papyrus with sorrow written across their face. Papyrus had never had anyone touch him with such care, or such gentleness, or such love. All he could remember was Flowey’s vines circling his arm, pushing too hard and-

Papyrus wanted to explain, push the blame onto Flowey, tell the human that it wasn't his fault. Or come up with an excuse, tell them that he didn't know where the marks came from, or that he got them practicing, or that they had always been there or-

The human reached up to their face and pulled an old bandage off their face. They placed it on the scar, and gently pushed it down, carefully not touching the other bruises or fresh wounds.

They looked up at Papyrus. 'Help your arm', they signed.

Most monsters in the underground knew ASL and Papyrus was no exception.

'Thank you', he signed back, his voice not quite working through the returning disconnect.

The human smiled again. They stood up straight and reached down to help Papyrus up by the arm. Without thinking, he reached up and allowed the human to pick him up, similarly to how Sans would 'help' him up.

The human raised their arms and motioned for Papyrus to pick them up. Papyrus reached down, and lifted them into his arms. They were light, around the same weight and Sans, so Papyrus could carry them with no problems.

"What is your name, human?" Papyrus asked when they had settled into his arms.

'F-R-I-S-K', they signed. Then they said it aloud. "Frisk" Their voice was quiet, soft and gentle, like their hands were.

"That is an excellent name!" Papyrus exclaimed. Frisk giggled happily in his arms.

Your name? they asked.

"I am...Papyrus." He had almost returned to calling himself, 'The Great Papyrus', but lately, he hadn't been feeling very great. "Let's get you back to town before you freeze"

Frisk nodded, and wrapped their arms carefully around Papyrus' neck. The two made their way back to Snowdin.

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Flowey was pissed. He had watched the entire pitiful fight. Papyrus' attacks were nowhere near the level they were during the practices, and once again he had failed to increase his LV! They were so close! But now that human was free once again, and now Papyrus was taking them to his house.

Flowey wanted to break something, watch it crumble beneath him. He wanted to hurt something, watch it suffer. He had to do something with this feeling.

He was going to have to punish Papyrus for his less-than acceptable behavior. It was the only way.

And he would have to remove the human by himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Papyrus had heard many stories about Queen Toriel, the mysterious monarch who left the Underground for the ruins, leaving King Asgore and the kingdom. The stories usually painted her as a kind and gentle queen who could not stand the horrors of the loss of her children, or as a superficial ruler who ran away whenever things got tough. For the most part, Papyrus was unsure as to what he thought of the queen. He knew very little about her, as did most of the underground, because of her sudden and unannounced departure from monster-kind.

As he carried Frisk into town, he met the queen for the very first time. She was not very happy.

"FRISK!" She yelled when she saw the human. Her outburst caught Papyrus off guard. He looked around wildly for where her voice was coming from, and saw the goat monster coming towards them.

"My child, where were you?" She asked when she got closer. Her voice was strained and sounded like she had been crying. "I was so worried when I couldn't find you"

Frisk started to sign frantically, but Papyrus wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. He was watching Toriel, the mysterious absent queen, fret over a 7-year-old human child. She was one of the Underground's most interesting characters, one of the most talked about people, and she was right in front of him.

"It is alright, my child." She said, sighing. "I was just so worried."

She held out her arms and Papyrus gave Frisk to her. Toriel smiled kindly at him.

"Thank you. I am so sorry that you had to worry about them for me" She said.

Papyrus felt his stomach drop. "Don't thank me." He said. Toriel gave him a confused look. "I don't deserve it." Papyrus tried to explain.

The image of Frisk hurting in the snow flooded his mind. The dark red stain attached itself to his memory, and he felt like puking again. He wanted to make it up to them. Both of them, Toriel and Frisk. He wanted the terrible feeling of guilt to go away and leave him alone.

"But, you can stay at my house, if-if you want-until…" His voice trailed off. What am I doing? "I-I mean, uh, if-if you-" What was wrong with him? He never used to stutter and stammer like this!

Instead of finishing his sentence, he stopped and started at the ground.

I am such an idiot

"That is a very nice offer, but I think we are just fine in the inn." Toriel said, with another gentle smile. "By the way, I do not know your na-"

 

"PAPYRUS!!"

Papyrus jumped when his name was called. He spun around to see a very angry Undyne storming towards them.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?" She bellowed at Papyrus. He flinched away from her on reflex. She didn't seem to notice. She was too mad. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CATCH THE HUMAN, NOT HAVE A NICE CHAT WITH IT!!"

"Undyne, I-" Papyrus wanted to explain. He wanted to tell Undyne about Frisk, about how they cared about the scars on his arms, about their gentle touch, about how they didn't make him feel like he wasn't good enough and about how he had hurt them. But Papyrus wasn't very good at explaining himself anymore.

Luckily Toriel came to his rescue.

"And what is so wrong with having a nice chat?" She asked, her eyes narrowing at the captain of the guard. "You could probably use some practice for your civility."

Undyne fumed. She whipped around to Toriel, her eyes narrowed.

"Listen up, you bitch. I don't care that you're the queen. All I care about is that you are protecting that human, and that you are standing in the way of me and that human. So get the FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!"

As she said the last words, she lunged towards Frisk in Toriel’s arms. Toriel moved them quickly out of the way of Undyne's outstretched arms.

"I am sorry, but I am not going to let you hurt this child." The queen replied sternly.

"But they're a human!" Undyne snarled.

"What difference does it make?" Toriel shot back.

Papyrus cut in desperately yelling at them to stop fighting. Frisk was starting to get upset as well. The two of them together managed to calm the fighting pair down.

"Fine. You can keep the human." Undyne said after a few minutes. "BUT!" she added when Toriel sighed in relief. "The both of you will be under constant watch of a guardsmen or guardswomen."

"I do not wish to cause trouble" Toriel said, with a hard edge to her voice. "So I accept your terms. But how do you suggest we go about this constant supervision?"

Undyne pointed at Papyrus. He had not been paying attention, so the sudden movement made him jump.

"His house. I'm staying there anyways, so it won't be that big of a deal."

Papyrus sighed. He got the feeling that he was never going to get his house back to himself ever again. He knew better than to argue with Undyne, plus he was secretly very glad that the human was going to be living with him for a while.

The brief moment that they shared after their fight moved something inside of him. He felt like he could actually change his predicament, even with Undyne and Toriel fighting.

Undyne pushed her way to the front of the small group and led the way to Papyrus's house. A tense silence fell over the group, broken only by the crunch of their feet in the snow, and the sound of clothing rustling when Frisk signed something to Toriel.

Since Papyrus house was on the outskirts of the town, it didn't take long for the group to reach it. Undyne-who was still pretty mad- flung the door open with a bang. Inside the house, Sans-who had been sleeping on the couch- was startled awake, and fell to the ground with a curse.

"What's goin' on?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his face. When he was done, he stared for a moment at the odd group, his eyes resting of Frisk. "You know what?" he said with a nonchalant smile. "Forget I asked."

Sans got off the couch and climbed up the stairs. Undyne started to organize the house, so that Frisk and Toriel had a place to sleep. Papyrus was watching Sans. As soon as he was turned away, the glowing light of his eyes flickered out, and he slumped over. He climbed the stairs slowly.

Something was wrong.

He rushed over to Sans, putting a hand on his shoulder. Sans wrenched it away from Papyrus's touch. Papyrus pulled his hand back.

"What." Sans asked sourly under his breath.

"I just- wanted to know what’s wrong." Papyrus said, trying not to let the hurt show in his voice.

"What's wrong?" Sans didn't look at Papyrus when he spoke. "What's wrong is that Undyne comes barging in here, acting like she owns the place, pushin me away from my brother on some stupid charge of...." His voice trailed off. "I'll be in my room."

And then he was gone. Behind closed doors.

Papyrus stood in the empty hallway for a while. The floor was littered with dirty laundry and dirty mugs, half filled with coffee. One of them had tipped over leaving a dark stain across the carpet. Downstairs was not much better.

When had they slipped so far?

Not wanting to think to much about anything, Papyrus retreated to his room. Closing the door quietly, he turned around and saw a golden flower sitting on his unmade bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possibly my favourite part of this is the fact that in the original draft bitch was censored but fuck wasn't.


	7. Chapter 7

"Why hello friend!" Flowey happily chirped, looking at Papyrus' face with glee.

"Do you remember what I told you about the human? They will kill you, and Sans, and Undyne, and everyone here. So my question is... Why let them live?" Papyrus moved his hand to touch the bandage Frisk had put on his arm.

"Oh, of course. They gave you a bandage. They 'cared' about you. It's all just an act, you know," Flowey told Papyrus, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I-I wasn't going to kill someone innocent," Papyrus said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Oh, but you've come closer before. You'll do it. Meet me at our usual spot for training tonight. Maybe you just need to be stronger," Flowey grinned. Papyrus jumped as there was a knock at the door.

"Papyrus? I heard a voice. Are you ok?" Undyne said through the door.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just- just a video," Papyrus said, opening the door slightly.

"Hey, sorry about earlier. I was a little hard on you considering... events of the past few days," Undyne said, looking at him only after she was done speaking.

"It's fine, Undyne. I understand. And I did disobey direct orders, so I did deserve it," Papyrus said, giving a sad smile.

"Heh, maybe. But that didn't mean I had to scream at you like that, I mean, what the hell, right?" Undyne replied, relaxing immediately.

"Yeah, so...how's the human?" Papyrus asked carefully, gauging Undyne's reaction. She scowled.

"They seem really passive. Maybe that's normal? Doesn't line up with Alphys' history videos, though," Undyne said, shrugging.

Papyrus opened his mouth to answer, when he heard a click from down the hall. It was the lock to Sans' room. Sans slowly made his way towards them. As he did, Undyne (whether knowingly or not, he didn't know) stepped in front of him protectively. Papyrus suppressed a scowl. Why was he so angry all the time?

Sans looked up, then slumped over even more than he was before.

"You know what, I give up. I try to tell you I didn't, I try to be a goo- a good brother. Nothing I do is ever gonna make it up to you, is it?" Sans said, looking down. Papyrus couldn't tell who he was talking to. He felt sick suddenly. He had brought this on his brother.

"I-Sans I'm-"

"It's fine, never mind. I'll be at Grillby's," Sans said, brushing by Toriel.

"Undyne! Why do you treat him so poorly? You barely even know him!" Toriel asked sharply. Undyne straightened up and turned to her.

"Oh, is this about the human again?"

"Of course not! But you have to bring everything back to Frisk, don't you?"

"It's not supposed to be here!"

"'It' has a name!"

Papyrus couldn't take it. He quietly slipped down to the front door to leave, when he felt a little tug on his hand. He turned to find Frisk.

'Where are you going?' They signed.

"I-I'm just going out for a bit. I'll be back later,"

'Be careful please', they signed, eyes wide with fear.

"Of course," Papyrus said confused, as he left leaving a very worried child.

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Flowey waited smugly for Papyrus. He would come tonight. He knew it. Even if he was late, he would come. Flowey had gotten him right where he wanted.

Sure, maybe a little more scared then he would have liked, but it didn't matter. He was so close. A few more days, at most.

He got lucky with the goat. Stuck in the house with Frisk? That was just a stroke of luck. Thank goodness for Undyne being so paranoid about catching a human.

There he was. Maybe walking without the usual bounce, but coming none the less.

"Papyrus! So good to see you again! So, what did you think of that human?" Flowey asked, even though he knew the answer. But would Papyrus be truthful?

"They're...interesting," Papyrus settled for. Flowey smiled happily. At least he wasn't lying, even if he wasn't completely telling the truth.

"But, where's your armour? Oh, don't tell me you snuck out again? Sans won't be happy," Flowey asked, faking sympathy.

"I left when...does it matter?" He asked tiredly. Flowey could tell Papyrus was sick of the games.

"I guess not, let's begin," Flowey said, preparing attacks. Papyrus immediately spread his legs apart, bracing himself for his first attack. The first attack came fast and aggressive. Papyrus rolled to the side, the vines just grazing him. He bit back his hiss of pain.

He straightened up and sent a wave of bones at Flowey. Flowey frowned. An easy attack to dodge. He was not impressed.

"You need to try harder if you're going to save your friends," Flowey told him angrily. Papyrus set his jaw and sent more attacks at him. After going back and forth like this-both their attacks getting stronger- for over an hour, Flowey grinned.

"Let's try something new, why don't we?" Flowey laughed. Papyrus dropped his guard for just a moment, which was all Flowey needed. Flowey sent a vine out, which grabbed Papyrus around his ribs.

"Wha- what?"

The vines wrapped around his bones, squeezing them. He lifted Papyrus off the ground. The flower extended his vines, completely covering his arms and spine, as well as his ribs. The skeleton let out a gasp of pain and desperately tried to grab the plants as they slowly inched their way all across his body.

Flowey increased the pressure. The extensions of his small form were strong, strong enough to destroy anything, if he put his mind to it. Papyrus’s bones seemed extremely fragile in his grip. He had a sudden urge to break every bone that he had in his grip. 

"I'm disappointed, Papyrus. You never let down your guard, haven't you learned?" Flowey continued, tightening the vine, feeling the bones begin to give way.

Papyrus tried to bite back his scream but couldn't. The sound echoed across the clearing. Flowey’s vines reached up through the inside of his jaw and muffled the sound from the inside. Papyrus was crying now, thrashing tiredly against the vines.

"Oh, Papyrus. This is why we don't let down our guards," Flowey said patronizingly. He increased the pressure again, and more of the bones snapped. They made a sharp cracking sound as they broke.

"Alright, I-I've learned! Just, stahhh!" Papyrus yelled, feeling his ribs break. Flowey gently let him down.

 

Papyrus lay in the snow where Flowey left him. He was sobbing. He tried to get up, but his bones wouldn’t support his weight. He collapsed in the snow. Flowey pushed just enough healing magic through to the skeleton to allow him to walk, but he knew that Papyrus would be in lot of pain for a long couple of weeks, if no one else managed to heal him.

 

"Now, I think that's enough for tonight. I'm sorry about your ribs, but I can't fix them. This is why you need to keep your guard up," Flowey told him. “This is why we don’t let the humans survive.”

Papyrus said nothing. He lay in the snow, breathing heavily.

 

"Those ribs might take a while to heal...take tomorrow off, but then we'll be back at it," Flowey said, settling next to Papyrus to talk.

"So, two new house guests, huh?" Flowey asked.

"I-yes,"

"What's wrong? You can tell me,"

"I-I just don't understand why you talk with me after," Papyrus said quietly, scared what his punishment might be.

"You don't like talking with me?"

"I never-"

"That's fine. I understand. I hurt you badly. But we are still friends, right?" Flowey asked, mocking being hurt.

"Of course we are, just, wouldn't it make more sense to talk...before when I'm not...tired?" Papyrus corrected himself carefully.

"Of course! There's my smart Papyrus! I'll remember that for next time. Have a nice night, my friend!" Flowey said cheerfully, leaving him alone for the night.

Papyrus carefully got up, trying to protect his ribs. It would be a slow walk home. He carefully stayed on the outskirts of town. When he walked in, he saw Toriel on a mattress in the corner of the living room, and Frisk curled into Sans on the couch. At least, that's what he thought. It was too dark to tell. Papyrus carefully walked to his room and immediately dropped into his bed, looking forward to a long night of sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Papyrus' eyes blinked open. His head pounded, and his body ached. All he wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep, but he could hear the sounds of people moving around downstairs, and knew he would be expected.

He was wearing yesterday's clothes, but they were dirty and stained from yesterday's practice. The short sleeves exposed his arms littered with bruises and cuts. He hated looking at his arms, so he threw on an old woolen sweater he had forgotten that he owned. He just hoped that it would be enough.

As he opened the door to his room, he could smell the strong scent of cooking food. It smelt good, but the thought of eating so early in the morning made his stomach churn. He always used to eat breakfast, but he had stopped recently. Why had he stopped?

He walked through the living room and saw Sans asleep on the couch. The T.V was on, showing some re-run of Mettaton’s show. The sound was muted, and so the actions that the robot were making seemed random, unannounced, and almost surreal. As he passed Sans, he saw a bottle on the floor beside him, and smelt alcohol. Sans had been drinking again.

He entered the kitchen. Frisk was sitting on the floor, eating from a plate with their fingers. Utensils lay abandoned by their side. Toriel was at the sink, making a start on the huge pile of dirty dishes that neither skeleton had bothered to wash. Undyne sat at the dining table, angrily staring at her empty plate. The tense silence that filled the room suggested that there had been an argument.

"Oh, Papyrus!" Toriel said when she saw him standing in the doorway. "I made up a plate for you."

She handed him a plate with toast, eggs and bacon on it. Papyrus realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten a proper meal in a few days, but instead relied on quick snacks and leftovers.

He sat at the table beside Undyne. She nodded towards Papyrus, and then looked back at her empty plate.

Papyrus started to eat. He had only taken a couple of bites when he knew that he would not be able to finish it. The food was too rich, and his stomach churned again. He pointedly ate slower, and with smaller bites. It helped, but not a lot.

Frisk finished their breakfast, and carried their plate to Toriel. After a quiet discussion of soft voices and small hands, the human came over to the table. Pulling up a chair, they sat beside Papyrus. Undyne glowered at them, and got up from the table, sitting on the couch next to the sleeping Sans.

'Are you busy today?' Frisk asked Papyrus, waiting expectantly for his answer.

"I think I am free." He replied, putting down his fork. "Let me check. Undyne?"

"Yeah, you have a day off" Undyne muttered from her spot on the couch. Sans rolled over in his sleep, falling onto her. She pushed him off the couch with an annoyed grunt. He woke up, looking around wildly for a moment, then fell back asleep on the floor.

"What do have planned today?" Papyrus asked Frisk, looking away from the food on his plate.

'Making cookies!' They signed excitedly, their hand moving quickly. 'Mom knows how.'

They pointed towards Toriel, who was drying her hands, even though the dishes were not quite done.

"Undyne told me that you enjoy cooking. I thought that it would be a fun activity for all of us." She explained. "Frisk seemed to think it was a good idea."

Frisk nodded happily. Papyrus agreed.

"Do either you or Sans want to help?" Toriel asked Undyne.

"I dunno. Sans is pretty drunk right now." Undyne said dismissively. She muttered something else under her breath. Papyrus felt a small flash of anger rise up against the fish monster.

"That does not mean that he would not enjoy it." Toriel said, her eyes narrowing.

"If you can wake him up, maybe." Undyne said again, slouching into the couch.

Toriel frowned. She turned away from Undyne and planted her hands firmly on the counter. The house was silent for a moment.

Frisk walked over to Sans, and sat down beside him. They started to pat his head very gently until he started to stir.

"Whaddyawant?" He asked, his words slurring into each other. Frisk replied in precise signs. Sans seemed to ponder their question for a while.

"Yeah, I'll help. M'not much of a cook though." He said with a small chuckle.

He got up and stretched, the bones in his back popping and cracking after sleeping on the floor. Frisk got up as well, and mimicked the action, although their bones didn't make any noise. Sans opened one of his eyes and noticed them copying his movements, so he exaggerated his motions. Frisk copied, and soon they were performing some sort dance. Until Sans fell ungracefully onto the ground.

He let out a curse as he landed on his back. Toriel shot a disappointed look at him. Sans grinned apologetically, and went to stand backup. He was hindered by Frisk jumping onto his stomach. The pair dissolved into a fit of helpless giggles. Even Undyne couldn't repress a small smile.

"Alright, are we ready now?" Toriel asked, standing over the two as they lay on the floor.

'Yes!' Frisk signed, leaping to their feet. Sans was a little slower to stand up, but he managed.

"What do we do first?" He asked.

"I know what we should do first." Papyrus cut in. "We should clean up this kitchen"

In the past few weeks, the kitchen had fallen into chaos, like most of their house. Neglect had turned the once neat and impeccably clean room into a mess. Dirty dishes were piled up in the sink. Empty and half-filled coffee mugs were littered all over the countertops. Dirty socks were draped over some of the appliances. Papyrus hated the mess, but he had never felt like he could clean it up. There was always something else to do, or something else to worry about. But now, he could finally clean this up.

"I think that is an excellent idea." Toriel said with a grin.

Sans groaned at the prospect of all the work that needed to be done, but started to make his way towards the kitchen. Frisk ran to the counters and started to pick up the socks and lay them on the ground in the living room, one by one. Toriel went back to her position at the sink and continued to wash the dishes, and Papyrus dried them. Sans took the dried dishes and put them back in their place.

They worked in silence for a bit, all of them lost in their own thoughts. The silence was eventually broken by Undyne’s soft snores from the couch.

"Oh, so Undyne gets out of cleaning by falling asleep?" Sans said, "What a load of carp."

Toriel laughed. Papyrus smiled. Sans' puns were not quite so common these days. It put a little bit of normalcy into their work.

"That was not bad, Sans." Toriel said, her voice filled with mischief. "But I think that you cod do better."

Frisk giggled as they ran past with another dirty sock in their hands. Sans grinned and leaned back against the counter. Papyrus knew that stance- he was preparing for a full on pun war.

"Well, I suppose I could, I mean, Any fin is possible if you don’t trout yourself." He said, his smile widening. Papyrus shoved the dry dishes into Sans' hands, muttering to himself about Sans' inadequacy. Inside, however, he was smiling.

"Whale obviously, you sure are brill-iant." Toriel replied, with a grin to match Sans'. "If you think of some more fish puns, let minnow."

As they continued to throw fish puns at each other, The kitchen slowly became something more acceptable. Frisk had found all the socks, the dishes were almost all done, and the counter even got wiped down.

The puns were still coming. After a particularly bad one (Sometimes I feel like I'm reinventing the whale) Papyrus decided that he would have to fight fire with fire.

"I, the jury find you gill-ty of really bad fish puns, and you should dolphinately scale them back."

The kitchen went silent. Both Sans' and Toriel stared at Papyrus for a moment. They glanced at each other in shock.

Then they burst out laughing.

"Dolphinately!!" Sans repeated, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.

"Well said, Papyrus!" Toriel said, through her laughing. "I guess that you really took them seriously when they said think of your own puns, and not to leave it to salmon else."

The room burst into fresh laughter. Frisk rolled their eyes, but was laughing too. Papyrus smiled. It felt good to spend time like this. It almost let him forget about how much he hurt, how his head pounded, how his ribs ached. It felt good.

There was only three dry dishes left, and since Sans was on the floor crying from laughing to hard, Papyrus decided to put them away himself. He picked up one of the dishes- a knife that he liked to use for cutting vegetables- and went to put it away.

Suddenly he froze, staring at the knife in his hands. His mind started to move too fast, going to places he didn't want it to. Suddenly, Flowey had the knife and the were fighting and he took it and stabbed it into Papyrus and it hurt, oh it hurt so bad. Sans and Undyne were there behind Flowey, asking him to tell them why he was so hurt, but it hurt so much, too much to talk, too much to explain, so he said nothing, and watched as Undyne turned on Sans and hit him and threw him to the ground. Sans was crumbling now, turning to dust as his single HP was gone, and as he disappeared, he looked into Papyrus' eyes and cursed him, cursed him for lying, for deceiving him, and then he was gone, nothing but dust blowing on the wind. Golden flowers popped through the dirt at his feet, spreading and growing, surrounding him and closing in around him, their vines clinging to his legs and they burned, they burned so bad but he couldn't shake them off, and so they climbed higher and higher up his legs, trapping him. Alphys was there, her hands full of dust, Sans' dust. She was telling him that it was for the best, and that Sans couldn't hurt him any longer and that she was sorry that it had to be this way, but Flowey was right behind her, getting bigger and bigger, blocking out the light until it was nothing but darkness, aloneness and fear. Flowey’s vines grew around and grabbed Papyrus in the dark. They forced him to pull up his magic, pointing it towards the human, his friends and everyone he cared about. Flowey’s voice filled his head: 

MY BEST FRIEND.

Papyrus dropped the knife. The kitchen was back, and Sans was right in front of him. They weren't laughing anymore. Everyone was staring at Papyrus with concern in their eyes.

Papyrus then realized that he wasn't breathing. He gasped for air, scrambling back, and putting a hand on the counter for support. Tears filled his vision and raced down his face. He put a hand up to his mouth, and grabbed his face. He gasped again, but breathing did nothing for him. Instead he sobbed. He looked down at the floor, not wanting to see the other's worried faces.

"Paps...."Sans started to say, and he took a step towards him.

Papyrus spun around, but smacked his side into the counter by accident. Sharp red-hot pain raced up his cracked ribs, making him let out a yelp of pain. He slid down to the floor crying.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, he was supposed to keep it secret. Flowey would not be happy with this, he knew. He tried to bite back his tears but they were coming to fast now. He wanted the floor to swallow him up, and to never spit him back out. He hated worrying everyone.

He could hear whispers, and he could hear his name in those whispers. Everything was wrong.

Gentle hands touched his shoulders. Looking up, he saw Frisk. They were crying too.

"I-I-" The disconnect between his mouth and his brain was back. Frisk understood, though.

They sat down beside him. They grasped his hands with their hands and started whispering to him.

"It's okay" They whispered. "It's okay. It's okay."

They continued whispering this to Papyrus, and eventually, his breathing returned to normal. He was still crying, however, and his ribs still burned. His head ached, and his sweater was too warm, but he couldn't risk taking it off and having everyone see the bruises on his arms. They were already too suspicious, he couldn't risk it getting worse.

He looked up, past Frisk and saw everyone huddled in the small room, looking at him anxiously. The worst of all was Sans. He seemed to have shrunk to the back of the group. He was slouching, and faint tear stains streaked down his face. The lights in his eyes were out. Undyne had woken up. Her face was uncharacteristically pale, and she looked unsure, scared and afraid. She never looked afraid.

Toriel leaned down and looked Papyrus square in the eyes. Her face had lost the usual kind, patient look that it usually had, and instead she looked stern.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, and her intense eyes would not allow any lies to get past.

Papyrus went silent. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to tell the truth either. He didn't want Flowey to find out about his blabbing.

"Papyrus." Toriel said again. "This is important. Are you hurt?"

"Yes." Papyrus whispered. A weight lifted off his shoulders, and he felt terrible. He buried his face in his hands.

"Where?" She asked, her voice still stern.

"I-I.....I don't want you to see." Papyrus whispered again. It wasn't a lie. He didn't want anyone to know about Flowey, and what Flowey told him, and did to him and threatened him. He didn't want anyone else to have to deal with it. He didn't want to disrupt his already disrupted life.

"I need to see."

Papyrus stayed still for a long time. He didn't want this to happen. He didn't want to deal with the choices presented to him, so he didn't he stayed absolutely still, and thought about nothing. He retreated deep into his own mind, and hid.

He could hear Toriel talking to the others. He could hear Undyne protesting. He could hear Sans' silence. He could hear Frisk obey reluctantly, encouraging the other to as well.

He could hear all of it and none of it at the same time.

After another period of silence, Toriel spoke again.

"Please Papyrus. I need to see."

Reluctantly, Papyrus took off his sweater. Toriel gasped.

Five of his ribs were broken, cracked right through the bone. His spine was also chipped. Flowey’s attacks had done a lot of damage, and it showed.

"How did this happen?" Toriel asked in a hushed voice.

"I-I" Papyrus started to stammer. Didn't Toriel know? If not, why did she ask?

"You could not have done this by dropping the knife, that would be impossible." She looked helplessly at Papyrus' injuries. "How did this happen?"

Papyrus tried to come up with a passable excuse, but his mind went blank. Toriel's sudden change in demeanor threw him off balance, and he couldn't recover fast enough to make it seem like nothing happened.

Toriel shook her head and started a healing spell. She passed her hand gently over all of the cracks. Her magic was very similar to Flowey's magic. They both had an almost painful intensity and heat. They both were very efficient. But despite the fact that they were almost the same, Papyrus knew that he preferred Toriel's.

"I could not heal it all, and it will still be painful." Toriel said as she finished the spell. "But you do not have to worry about the injuries getting worse, and they should heal properly."

Toriel stood up, and reached down to help Papyrus up. She frowned as she saw the bruises on his arms, but she said nothing. She picked up the sweater from where it had been left on the floor and gave it to Papyrus. He pulled it over his head. He enjoyed how well it hid all of his injuries, even though he hated the feeling of the wool.

"Thank you, I-" Papyrus began, but his voice failed him again.

Toriel smiled sadly at him.

"I only wish that I could do more."

Papyrus didn't know how to respond, so he nodded and turned to leave.

"Papyrus." Toriel called. He turned around to face the former queen. "I will help you as much as I can, and I am not the only one. Undyne and Sans want to help as well. Frisk wants to help too. But we can do nothing if we do not know what is happening."

Papyrus turned away and placed his hand on the door knob.

"I'm sorry" He said again, and left the house.


	9. Chapter 9

Have to get away. I shouldn't have done that, what if he saw? I keep getting closer to telling them, they won't find out. I won't allow it I can't allow it I can't let them die I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't

A constant chanting in his head as he walked away. He could feel tears starting to run down his face but he has to get away. Get away get away get away get awa-

A sound. Crunching in the snow. It wasn't him. He slowly turned, a silent prayer it wouldn't be Sans.

Not Sans anyone but Sans please please please.

No. No no no no.

The human.

Their jacket. The last time their blood was on the ground I can't do it again I'll hurt them I can't I can't I can't I won't

"Go away, don't come near me Frisk," Papyrus choked out, stumbling backwards, keeping his eyes on them. He can't let his magic get out of control, have to protect them keep everyone safe.

But he already almost killed them.

Too reckless can't do this can't do this get away get away get away don't come close

But they did.

They were getting closer and he was trying to move away, but he could barely see there were so many tears his vision was so blurred he had to get away just leave, leave them alone they'll be better without me go go go

"Papyrus," their voice was crisp but he didn't want to hear it they had to leave if they didn't they would get hurt he couldn't do that no

"It's ok," suddenly they were right in front have him had he stopped? Had he fallen? He didn't care had to get away. He tried moving back but Frisk wouldn't let him. Frisk was holding him, hushing him, loving him.

"It’s okay to be sad. It's okay to be hurt. Mom and Sans and Undyne will help you not be sad and not be hurt, and I will help too." they whispered as they hugged him. He tried pushing them away.

He tried and tried and tried but he couldn't.

He didn't know how long it took but eventually he stopped. He stopped pushing away and sat there in the snow hugging this small human, letting them comfort him, make him feel better.

Make him feel worth something.

Frisk carefully moved back to look at him.

"Come home," they said. Home. Sans, Undyne, Toriel. He hesitated, but nodded. They grabbed his hands and pulled, and he pretended to let them, standing up. They smiled up at him, then grabbed his arm, almost using it as their own anchor, and they walked home together.

They walked in the house together to see the anxious faces of their friends.

"Papyrus," Undyne breathed, relieved as she flopped on the couch.

"Y-yeah, he's back. I'll call you later. I'm going- I'm going to get a drink," Undyne said into her phone, to Alphys, probably.

"Oh, thank goodness! Frisk, go get a blanket. Papyrus, you're all wet! We need to get you dry and warm- Sans, help Frisk," Toriel said, seeing Frisk struggling to carry the blanket. Sans seemed to be breathing for the first time in years. He was almost gasping for air, but he listened to Toriel and helped Frisk. They were too short to wrap it around his shoulders, so Toriel helped while she fussed over him.

"-didn't even eat a proper breakfast, when's the last time you had a full meal? Don't try to fool me, the amount of food that was in your garbage! You need to eat..." Papyrus tuned her out as he looked at Sans. He was standing back and looking at Papyrus cautiously.

"S-Sans," he said, stepping towards him. Sans looked up at him hopefully. Papyrus held out his arms, offering a hug and Sans rushed into them.

"I-I'm sorry I'm so sorry I shouldn't- I've done so many horrible things to you if you want me to go I will I'm sorry," Papyrus gasped hugging his brother tightly.

"D-don't ever leave me again I can't lose you I care ab- I love you too much don't go please," Sans choked out.

"I- I won't. I won't I promise never again," Papyrus said, tightening his grip on his brother.

"Heh, that- that's enough sappiness for today," Sans said, pulling back and wiping away his tears.

"Yeah, alright," Papyrus replied, wiping away his own tears.

"Well, I'll leave Toriel to take care of you, now. I'm heading to Grillby's," Sans said, waving over his shoulder, not wanting them to see the tears that were still falling.

Papyrus wasn't leaving.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

Undyne had already had 4 drinks. That was probably 2 1/2 too many. She had just bought a fifth when Sans walked in. Sans looked alarmed as soon he saw her. He looked like he was going to leave, but Undyne called to him.

"Sans, come, sit," She called to him. His eyes widened and he slowly walked over. He carefully sat next to her, avoiding looking at her. She let out a chuckle.

"You know, I don't know what to do with you," she said. He looked at her alarmed as Grillby gave him a drink.

"What?"

"You really think I believe you hurt Papyrus? I've checked you multiple times. You're too weak to do that much damage," Undyne told him, looking down at her drink. It was empty. She got another one.

"It's just...I don't know how to help him. You know, he's just...not himself. He's never been like this," Undyne said.

"You think I don't know that? I've lived with the guy for my whole life," Sans replied, taking a sip of his drink.

Undyne started laughing.

"You know, I always forget that. You guys are still pretty new here," she said.

"Yeah, well, I forget that sometimes too. Seems like we've been here an eternity," Sans replied. They were silent for a few minutes before Sans spoke again.

"You're right,"

"What?"

"I don't know what to do with myself most of the time either. I mean, I've- I'm just some guy who slacks off, can't keep his head straight, and now I can't help my brother," Sans continued, "I mean, I was already a drunk loser before. Now everyone thinks I'm a drunk loser who's abusing my brother. That- it makes me a bigger loser and a bigger drunk. No one in town trusts me anymore...I just...I'm scared Papyrus is going to get hurt because of me. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened,"

Undyne reached out a hand and patted his shoulder. Grillby brought Sans a second drink as he looked up at Undyne.

"I-I've been a bitch, haven't I?" She asked, looking at him with concern.

"I- yeah, a bit. Your accusations really-" Sans started before Undyne cut him off laughing.

"Ah, man I've been such a fucking bitch how have you not slapped me already??" She has her head down, shoulders shaking. Sans stared at her for a minute before joining. After they both calmed down, they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. The rest of the bar continued like normal. People were talking, laughing and singing badly. Sans and Undyne continued to drink together in silence. They had had about 10 drinks between them when the tears started.

"D-damnit. You- you just wan-wanted to help and I-I just-" Undyne choked out through her tears. Sans started crying, gently patting her shoulder.

"We-we both messed up, Undyne," he said. Tears were coming down his face too, but he didn’t even know why. After a few minutes a voice interrupted them.

"Calm down or get out," Grillby said, looking down at them.

"Yessir," Sans said, slurring his words as he half carried half dragged Undyne out. When they were out, Undyne started laughing.

"H-holy shit, yo-you just got us ki-kicked out-"

"Me, that w-was all you, you're the one that's d-d-drunk off her ass. I only had like 4," Sans replied laughing so hard his hands were on his knees.

"Aw, that's too much man. Let's - let's just go back to your place. I gotta sleep, man," Undyne said, slowly trudging towards Sans' house, Sans right beside her.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Papyrus watched as Toriel bustled around the kitchen. Frisk had dragged a chair over to him so they were right beside each other. Not that Papyrus minded, he liked having them around. There was a constant worry he would hurt them, but there was also the feeling of safety, love, and warmth. They leaned their head on his arm and looked at him to make sure it was alright.

"Now, you need to eat something light. But it can't just be anything, you haven't eaten in days you have make your stomach used to whole foods again. Here," she said, placing a bowl of soup and a slice of toast with banana slices on it in front of him.

"Thank you," he said, giving her a thankful smile.

"Oh, Frisk get off him! Let him eat in peace," Toriel said, and Frisk started to move after a dissatisfied 'hmf'.

"Oh- no, no it's fine, they can stay. I don't mind, really. I-" he cut himself off, and looked down at his soup. He picked up his spoon and started stirring his soup.

"Oh, alright. If he's fine with it you can stay Frisk, and stop playing with your food and eat it! But slowly," Toriel said, giving Frisk their own soup. Suddenly, the front door slammed opened and there were two loud laughs coming in.

"N-no, you see, it's funny, because you're a fish,"

"But, I'm not a carp,"

"Do you really know that?"

They looked at each other silently for a minute before bursting out laughing.

"I-I'm I'm done goodnight," Undyne said, passing out on one side of the couch.

"She's gonna need pain killers and a hot din-"

Undyne said something into the pillow that sounded something like "don't you fucking dare or I swear I'll punch you so hard my fist will go through your head,", and Sans started laughing again.

"Good night," he said before promptly passing out on the opposite end of the couch Undyne was on.

"W-what?" Papyrus asked, looking at them.

"I-eat your food you two," Toriel said, looking at the two figures on the couch.

"I hope we don't wake them," she muttered before turning to Papyrus and Frisk.

"Now, well you two eat, how about I get things for cookies ready? I expect I'll have to go shopping, you barely have any food left..."

Papyrus felt a wave of guilt wash over him. "That- sorry, I forgot to go shop-"

"Nonsense, it's fine. I'll be back soon," Toriel said as she walked out of the house. Papyrus sighed and started eating. Frisk was almost done theirs and they started to lean on Papyrus again. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Frisk suddenly sat upright.

"You-are you ok?" Papyrus asked, pausing with his spoon halfway to his mouth. Frisk rummaged through their pockets before pulling out a band aid and putting it where Papyrus' heart would have been had he been human.

Papyrus' eyes filled with tears as he looked in between the bandage and the child, who now has a huge grin on their face.

'To help you feel better,' they signed, looking to see his reaction. He grabbed them and brought them in for a hug, Frisk happily complying.

"Here, have my toast. I don't want it," Papyrus said, pushing the plate towards Frisk as he finished his soup. Toriel walked in just as Papyrus was finishing and smiled at them.

"Why don't you two do the dishes and I'll get everything set up?" Papyrus sat Frisk on the counter next to the sink so they could dry and Papyrus could wash. Once they were done, they started cooking.

Papyrus learned lots of things. For one, you were supposed to carefully crack the eggs, not bash them then scrape them into the bowl. Frisk giggled as they watched Papyrus learn how to cook properly. Toriel was patient and gentle with him as he learned.

When they were mixing, Toriel showed them to carefully mix so that everything would stay in the bowl.

When they put the cookies on the trays, Frisk used their small fingers to press smiles into all of them.

While they waited for the cookies to finish baking, Toriel wrote down (and explained) some other recipes. How to make bread, different soups, pie.

"Now, of course if you need help I can always help. But they’re here for you to try yourself," she said, handing Papyrus a stack of paper.

"Thank you," he smiled as the oven timer went off. There were grunts from the living room as the two woke up. Frisk bounded in and Papyrus watched from the doorway.

'We made cookies!' They signed.

"Wha? Without me? Oh, well at least I get to eat'em," Sans said sleepily, slowly getting up.

"Ow. Bring me water, painkillers, and lots of cookies," Undyne mumbled, raising a laugh out of both Papyrus and Frisk. Papyrus caught his brother's eye and smiled at him.

And the strangest thing was, Sans' smiled seemed like he was really, truly happy.


	10. Chapter 10

Papyrus sat at the computer. The faint blue light illuminated his face in the dark. Glancing down at the time, he saw that it was 12:47 AM. He had stayed up past midnight again. At least this time he hasn't getting beat up and broken.

His message was still empty. Alphys had been trying to get a hold of him over Undernet, and he had been trying to respond to her worried messages, but every time he tried, he couldn't do it. He would type something out, only to erase all of it again. He would run through ideas of messages through his head, over and over again, and write nothing down. He couldn't think of anything to say.

12:48

He had tried sleeping, but when he did manage to drift off, nightmares always jolted him awake, and now he didn't want to try again. He was tired though. His eyes were drooping, and his mind was slowing down. He was going to have to give in to sleep eventually, but...

'Blip'

He had gotten a message.

Alphys- Hey, coolskelton, r u awake?

Papyrus stared at the new message for a while. His mind processed this new information slowly through his tiredness.

12:49

CoolSkeleton95- yes. im up

His fingers typed the message quickly, and he hit the send button. He sighed and waited for Alphys to respond. Even though it was really late, and he was really tired, he was looking forward to talking to someone.

Alphys- oh, youre on. youve been away a lot,.......r u ok?

Reading the message, Papyrus's heart fell. Even here, over the internet in the dead of night, people were fussing over him

12:50

CoolSkeleton95- im fine. hbu?

Alphys- Im doing fine. i heard that queen toriel and the human are at your house... are they wierd? ^.^ ???

Papyrus hesitated again. He didn't want to betray his new friends so soon, but he didn't want to seem suspicious to Alphys. After all, every good monster hated humans, right?

CoolSkeleton95- theyre alright. we made cookies today.

As soon as he sent the message, he felt really dumb. Cookies? Really? Alphys would be wanting more information than cookies.

But... He didn't want to talk about his incident in the kitchen, or his fight with frisk, or anything of substance really.

12:52

Alphys- ooh, cookies are cool! did u save some for me ???

Papyrus's initial anxiety faded. Alphys didn't seem to care about how comfortable they were.

CoolSkeleton95- we have a few left. sans ate most of them.

Alphys- lol

The conversation lulled. Papyrus stared at the screen, wanting something to say, anything to keep his mind off of the pain in his chest.

12:55

The silence continued. Papyrus's breath quickened. What should he do, what should he say?

12:59

Alphys- so, ummmmm........unnie sent me home before i could see you. apparently i dont do 2 gud in snow.....

Papyrus stared at the message. The letters were starting to blur and move. He blinked hard a couple of times and looked back at the message.

1:01

Alphys- ...she called me, but didn't really say much.....she said that something happened?..... :O

Papyrus sighed. He didn't want to talk about this. He hated crying, and he hated when people knew that he was crying. Of course this would be what Alphys would want to talk about.

Alphys- r u still there?

She was getting worried. He didn't want that

CoolSkeleton95- yeah, im here. dont worry

Alphys- oh, good, bc i want to talk to you about something important

Papyrus shifted forwards in his seat. Something important? Was it about him? Was Flowey threatening her?

CoolSkeleton95- whats up?

Alphys- I have a secret, and i really really wanna tell people about it, but if i do, then someone might get hurt. idk what to do

1:09

CoolSkeleton95- ik that feeling

Alphys- you have a secret 2?

Coolskeleton95- yeah, but u already know it.

Alphys- oh.

1:15  
......  
1:19

Alphys- did u get in trouble for telling me?

Papyrus thought about that. Flowey had not been happy the last few times that they had practiced. He put a hand against his ribs, wincing when he made contact with the sore bones. He was definitely hurt now, and Flowey had been unusually hard on him. Was Flowey mad?

1:24

CoolSkeleton95- idk

CoolSkeleton95- maybe?

He sighed. It wasn't a very good answer. Even he could tell that it was unnecessarily vague and evasive, and that it said way too much. The pause that followed was not surprising, but just as worrying.

1:30

Alphys- did u get hurt?

CoolSkeleton95- no, nothing like that

Papyrus hated lying. He had been hurt. He was still hurt, even after two healing spells. His ribs could barely handle having a shirt over them, and who knows how bad it would be with his armour? But Alphys couldn't know about that. He wouldn't be the one to make her worry.

Alphys- oh. ok

Alphys- is unnie still with u?

Finally, back on solid ground. Safe territory.

CoolSkeleton95- Yeah, shes still here. she wont leave me alone with anyone. its like she doesnt trust me

Alphys- haha, yeah, shes like that a lot. she hates it when i walk back to the lab by myself

They continued to chat. Exchanging meaningless messages about cartoons, humans and cookies. The rest of their chat blurred in Papyrus's memory, and he didn't notice the time until Alphys mentioned it to him.

Alphys- haha, cant believe its 2 already. iv gtg. gotta get some sleep, right? but! ill come visit when i have a chance! ive got a day off tmrw. we can talk later!

CoolSkeleton95- yeah, that would be fun. ttyl

As he switched off the monitor, he felt like he could actually go to sleep. Their chat was long, and didn't have much substance, but he felt like he wanted to sleep. He put on his pyjamas, and slipped into bed.

The darkness was overwhelming. The close blackness of his room and the darkness of the entire underground were one and the same. The darkness shifted, dark shapes in a dark space, making movements only Papyrus could see. When he closed his eyes, the movements were still there, never leaving, never letting him escape their horrible dance. They moved with no pattern, only when they saw fit, circling him, surrounding him. At first their movements were only a distraction, something that was pushing sleep further away from him.

2:40

Then they were something horrible, a monstrous group, torturing him, dangling the prospect of sleep so close to him but so far, laughing as he reached desperately, and screeching when he got to close.

3:02

Papyrus couldn't take it anymore. He slipped out of bed, clutching his head in his arms. His stupid, scarred arms. He hated those arms. He wanted the marks on them gone. He wanted to be healed, he wanted to be better, he wanted to be fixed.

He couldn't stand sitting still on the bed. He silently crept into the hall. Sans's door was open, but Papyrus couldn't see inside. It didn't matter.

He made his way down the stairs, careful to avoid the stair that creaked, and careful not to step where Toriel was sleeping. He avoided both of those hazards.

He stood alone in the kitchen. It was dark. The faint hum of electrical appliances was his only company.

3:21

He slipped down to the floor and started to sob silently. Why was this happening to him? He was doing so well! He had eaten, he had baked cookies, Sans and him were acting like brothers again, so why was he so sad?

The light from the clock on the stove just barely illuminated the room, but it was enough for him to notice when Frisk entered the kitchen.

3:35

"I'm sorry I woke you up" Papyrus whispered as the human sat down next to him.

"I'm ok." Frisk whispered back. They held up a small box. "I brought bandages for you. I know that your stomach hurts. Mom told me, so I got them ready."

"Ok" Papyrus replied. He loved the bandages. They didn't stop the pain, but it felt nice to have a physical reminder that someone cared. So he pulled up his shirt for Frisk to be able to reach his ribs.

They carefully applied each one, carefully choosing a pressure that wouldn't hurt too much, but would still get the job done. Even in the dark, they seemed to know exactly where to put each one. When they were finished, they closed the box.

"All done" They whispered.

4:18

"Thank you" Papyrus whispered back.

"Now you can sleep" They said, and the made their way back to the couch where they slept.

Papyrus carefully made his way back to his room as well, avoiding sleeping people and creaky steps, and finally lay back down in his bed. And Frisk was right. The darkness didn't bother him anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

Papyrus knew that he was going to have a bad day from the moment he woke up. He had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep, and he was going to have to confront Flowey again tonight. It was not going to be fun.

Everyone was in the living room, going about their everyday activities. Sans was sleeping, and Toriel was cleaning breakfast dishes. Frisk had found a purple marker somewhere, and was scribbling all over Sans' skull. Undyne was watching with amusement, occasionally giving suggestions as to where to draw next.

"Good morning Papyrus" Toriel called from the kitchen. "How did you sleep?"

"Not too well." He replied. It was better if they knew that he was exhausted, he decided.

"Oh, dear." Toriel murmured under her breath. She passed a plate full of food to Papyrus. He picked up a fork and started to poke at the food. It looked delicious, but he couldn't bring himself to eat.

"Alphys is comin' over" Undyne said, coming up behind Papyrus and patting him hard on the back.

A wave of panic washed over Papyrus. Was she coming because of their chat last night? He frantically tried to remember what they had said to each other, but the words all blurred together in his mind.

"Ok, cool" was all he managed to reply.

He hastily shoved some of the food into his mouth, trying not to see the look that Toriel and Undyne shared.

Frisk sat beside him, the marker still in their hands. The lid to the marker was missing. The ink had gotten all over their fingers and face. They brought the marker up to Papyrus' face and started to draw over his skull.

"Frisk!" Toriel exclaimed when she noticed. "What are you doing?"

She ran over and picked up the human, fussing over their messy hand and face.

'I'm putting stars on Pap' they signed with their purple fingers. 'I made Sans pretty and didn't want Pap to feel left out.'

"What did you do to Sans?" Toriel asked, carrying Frisk into the living room. She sighed when she saw the mess that Frisk had made.

"Don't worry, Goat-Lady." Undyne said from the kitchen. "I think it makes him look better."

Frisk giggled. Toriel frowned and snatched the marker from their hands.

"No more drawing on people." Toriel scolded. "How am I going to clean this up? How do you even wash bones?" She continued under her breath.

"Hydrogen peroxide."

Everyone looked at Papyrus. Nobody else had heard Toriel’s mutterings.

"What?" Undyne asked, bewildered.

"You clean bones with hydrogen peroxide." Papyrus replied. He didn't much like the atmosphere in the room and wanted it to change.

"Oh, thank you, Papyrus," Toriel said, moving to the sink to grab a washcloth. As she started to wash Frisk's face, Undyne moved to sit across from Papyrus.

"Rough night, huh? Me too," Undyne told him. Papyrus scoffed slightly. As if her 'rough night' could compare to his.

"Yeah, must be the weather," was all he commented. Undyne looked at him doubtfully, but didn't say anything.

"I mean, you have been staying overnight here a lot, haven't you? Weather's different," Papyrus quickly corrected himself. Undyne raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well, I guess I have stayed the night here for a few days, but I've stayed here before,"

"Not for days on end," Papyrus told her with a shrug.

"Yeah," she said, narrowing her eyes before a grunt from Sans came from the other room. Sans walked in, and looked at Undyne for a moment before looking down.

"So," Undyne said, looking just over Sans' head.

"I, uh, don't hate you?" Sans told her awkwardly, almost phrasing it as a question. Undyne got up and stood in front of him. After a moment, she extended her hand.

"Me neither, I just...can you forgive me?" she asked, catching Sans' eye. He gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, sure," Sans took her hand and they didn't quite shake, but it was enough for both of them.

"Sans, do you have...hydrogen peroxide?" Toriel asked carefully. Undyne snorted, and Sans looked around to see Papyrus' face.

"Oh, bro. What did you do, oh my gosh this is great," Sans asked, a huge grin on his face.

"My face? Look at yours!" Papyrus replied, relieved the topic was away from himself.

"My fa- what did you do?" He asked before running to find something to look in. Papyrus smiled after his brother, shaking his head.

"Do you have any?" Toriel asked, looking to Papyrus.

"We might have some under the sink," Papyrus told her, getting up to look. He found a small bottle, and as soon as he stood up, Toriel took it from him. She sent him to sit, then started washing his face.

"Do you see, Frisk? This is why we don't colour on our friends faces," Toriel told them.

"So it was you," Sans said from the doorway.

'I made you pretty,' Frisk signed to him, a smile on their face.

"Heh, you made me very pretty, kid, but we've got company coming over so I gotta wash it off," Sans told them. Just after she finished with Papyrus, Toriel attacked Sans with the chemical and wash cloth. Papyrus watched in amusement as he watched his brother resist, but Toriel was unrelenting.

"How's your face?" Undyne asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Does that stuff hurt or what?" She asked, gesturing to the bottle.

"Oh, no. Doesn't feel any worse than hot water," he told her. She shrugged, then got up as there was a knock at the front door. Papyrus followed her into the front room, and saw Alphys at the door.

"H-hi Undyne! I-I brought some a-anime like you a-asked!" Alphys' voice said just loud enough for Papyrus to hear. He frowned slightly. Had Alphys told Undyne about their conversation?

"Aw, thanks, Alphys, you're the best. Paps, get in here. We're gonna watch some, I can't believe you've never watched this stuff!" Undyne called to him, looking through the assortment Alphys had brought. Papyrus sighed in relief before walking in. It seemed like Alphys hadn't told Undyne.

"I'm gonna get drinks, you guys set it up," Undyne called, walking back into the kitchen.

"Uh, over here," Papyrus told Alphys, taking her to the T.V, where she popped in one of the DVDs.

"You, uh, you, had a good night?" Alphys asked, obviously trying to get to the topic Papyrus least wanted to talk about.

"It was alright, a lot of tossing and turning, but other than that, fine," he told her, then hastily asked how hers was.

"It was fine, too, I stayed up a little too late working on a project, but hey, once you get going, you get going," she told him with a little shrug. He smiled as Undyne returned, with Sans, Toriel, and Frisk following.

"None of them have watched it either. How have you guys never-urg, it's just so good!" Undyne gushed, motioning to the group behind her. They then moved the mattress Toriel and Frisk had been sharing in front of the couch so that there would be enough room for everybody to sit and watch. Once everyone was settled, Alphys hit play.

Papyrus noticed Alphys' gaze was split between three places, himself, Undyne (who was practically bouncing out of her seat), and, occasionally, the show. Eventually, Alphys took a deep breath.

"Papyrus are you sure you're ok?" She asked him quietly, as to not disturb the others.

"I'm fine," he replied shortly, trying to keep his attention on the conversation happening on the screen.

"Papyrus, if you tell us who's doing-"

"You think I don't want to?" He hissed back. He noticed Undyne's eyes dart towards them. She had probably been listening to everything that they had said.

"Papyrus, if you just told us who's doing this, then everything-" Sans turned, looking at Papyrus.

"No. Let's just watch," Papyrus said, ignoring everyone's gazes. Frisk cleared their throat and everyone looked to them.

'It's the flower,' they signed, looking slightly confused. Papyrus froze. How did they know? If Flowey found out...

"Flower? What are they talking about?" Undyne asked, looking at Papyrus.

"I-I don't-"

"Don't even try to say you don't know, Papyrus, because we know you do," Undyne continued, sitting up straight.

"Was it that flower from when I found you?" Sans asked gently.

"I can't tell you. I can't I just- if I tell you you're going to get hurt and I can't let you," Papyrus replied, sitting straight up and staring at the wall.

"Papyrus, we need to know. Nothing is going to happen," Alphys told him, eyes wide in fear.

"Then why are you-" Papyrus quickly bit back his words. He couldn't say that. And to Alphys, too. All she had done was try to help him. Frisk cleared their throat again.

'I thought everyone knew, I'm sorry,' they signed, looking up to Papyrus. Papyrus managed a weak smile, which broke immediately after as he started crying.

"I-it's ok, Paps," Sans said, getting up to place a hand on Papyrus' knee, "you can tell us," Papyrus shook his head, keeping his eyes on Frisk.

'I'm sorry. I followed you a while ago and thought everyone knew but no one liked it,' Frisk signed. Papyrus could almost laugh. Of course that's what they thought. They were just a kid.

"It's okay," Papyrus whispered, patting Frisk's head weakly.

"Papyrus, you need to tell us. We can help you," Toriel told him. Papyrus sighed. It was too late now. Flowey would end up finding out. Might as well tell them the whole story. Maybe things might be ok for a bit.

"F-Frisk is right. It was a flower," Papyrus started with. He told them everything, how at first he was a friend, then started training, but too hard. The only thing that he left out was that Flowey was really Asriel. Asriel was the queen's son, if he remembered right. He didn't want to put that pressure on Toriel.

"-and he's expecting me back tonight," Papyrus finished. Everyone looked at him in shock.

"You are not going back tonight," Undyne told him, looking more alert than he had seen her in weeks.

"I won't," he told her, looking up and around at his friends.

"Seriously, you're not. No sneaking out," Sans said, looking at Papyrus with worry.

"I won't. I'll stay here," Papyrus told him, and this time he really meant it.  
________________________________________________________________________________

 

Flowey was not impressed. Papyrus should have been here hours ago. He would have though Papyrus would begin to listen after their little chat. There was only one thing to do.

The flower went to his house to go see what the holdup was. He looked into the window that looked into their front room. Papyrus, his brother, and the fish monster (Undyne?) were on the couch. Toriel, Frisk, and the royal scientist were on the floor. All of them asleep. Flowey groaned. Really, Papyrus? You thought this would be a good idea?

Flowey moved to the door and started banging on it. He was angry. He didn't care who answered, but he was going to get Papyrus. But when the door opened, he had a better idea.

The human. It would be easy to grab them, they were right there. And the distraught Papyrus would feel...he would never miss a training session again.

"Oh, this will be interesting," Flowey said, then shot out his vines to grab a confused human and close the door. He then started off to his next destination, with his new toy.


	12. Chapter 12

Flowey dragged the human through the snow as fast as he could. Because he was carrying another person, he couldn't move underground like he normally did, so he was quite a bit slower. The human had struggled and fought against Flowey's grip at first, but was now silent and still.

Flowey pulled them off the beaten path and headed towards one of the least visited sites in all of Snowdin: The mysterious cave.

Nobody knew what was behind the door in the cave, how it had gotten there, or why it was there. For a long time, monsters attempted to open it and see inside, but it had proved impossible. Over time, they gave up, and became interested with other oddities in the snowy forest.

Flowey threw the human on the ground as soon as he entered the cave. They let out a muffled cry of pain, but gave no other indication that they were hurt. They lay on the ground, rubbing the moss that covered the ground.

Flowey quickly grew vines to cover the entrance to the cave, blocking out the outside light. The room darkened dramatically.

The cave was always something beautiful, even though it had no purpose. The phosphorescent mushrooms scattered across the rocky, moss-covered ground lit the cave in an eerie, green light. With Flowey's flora blockade, the mushroom lights alone were not enough to light the cave, and so shadows danced along the edges.

Flowey heard a small laugh

He whirled towards the human. They were on their knees now, hands braced against the ground, and head bowed. Their hair fell like a curtain over their face, making it impossible to accurately gage their emotions. Their hands grasped at the moss, pulling it up, away from the rocky surface that it had grown on. They let out another breathy laugh.

"Oh, you find something funny?" Flowey asked, reverting to his usual cheery mask. "You think this is a game? Because let me tell you, you won't find it very fun."

The human said nothing, and continued to pull at the moss, squishing it between their fingers, and letting the pieces fall broken to the floor.

"But, I do love games." Flowey continued. "Anything to keep the boredom from killing me! But you ruined my favourite game to play!"

The human laughed once again, breathing heavily. They stopped playing with the moss. Flowey got the impression that they were ignoring him.

"You ruined my favourite toy!" He got closer to the human, but still couldn't see their face. They had stopped laughing. "He was so fun, and he was so close to doing something amazing, something unheard of, but then you came along AND RUINED EVERYTHING!"

He yelled the last part as loud as he could. The human did nothing and said nothing. Flowey was beginning to get annoyed. This human went through all of this work to ruin his favourite game to play with his favourite toy, but wouldn't even listen to him?

"WHY WON’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?" He yelled, and something dripped onto his face. Something warm and wet. Somehow, the feeling was familiar.

Finally the human stirred. 'You know me,' they signed. 'I was always the quiet one.'

Flowey was confused. He still couldn't see their face, and he couldn't understand what they were trying to say through their hand signals. Confusion leads to loss of control, so he decided to pretend like nothing happened.

"Fine. But I still think that you would make an excellent replacement." Flowey sent out his vines to ensnare the human. As he thought about it, he realized that it would be quite interesting to play with this human, see how they worked, how they fought, and how long they could go before breaking.

Just before his vines reached the human, they sprung up, skillfully dodging and avoiding all of Flowey’s attacks. They barely had to think about their movements, dancing around the obstacles like they were practiced. Flowey’s eyes widened in shock.

When they were both done moving, the human stood in a ready position, still looking at the ground, and their hair still covering their face. They were laughing again.

He sent another wave of attacks, trying to grab a hold of the human or trying to hurt it, or do something that would end their easy calm. The human reacted immediately, pulling something out from behind their back and dancing once again through his attacks. Flowey felt a numb sense of loss, and one of his vine-arm fell lifelessly to the ground.

The human was laughing again, and in their hands was a knife.

Flowey sent out his attacks again, desperately, trying to do something to the human. They continued cutting through them like they were nothing. They were slowly advancing, dancing towards him, still laughing.

In a final attempt, he sent out an attack at full speed heading straight toward the human. They didn't see it until it was too late. The attack went right through them, and they gasped.

Flowey pulled the attack out of their body and waited for them to fall dead onto the ground. His attacks did around 20 HP of damage, and for a human with a LV of 1, that would be their max. They were dead.

He turned away triumphantly, ready for this chapter of his life to be over.

"Leaving so soon?"

He turned around again to see the human still standing, the knife still in their hands.

"WHAT!? You should be dead right now human!" Flowey roared, staring at them in disbelief.

"So sorry to disappoint."

Flowey didn't understand. The human couldn't have survived something like that, it was impossible. In a desperate attempt to understand, he checked their stats.

HP: 79/99  
AT: 48  
DF: 14

LV:20

"I don’t- you never" Flowey stammered, backing away from the displayed stats. "I don't understand."

He looked up at the human, who he had been watching from their entrance to the underground. They had never even attempted to hurt anyone, so an LV of 20 was..

"No. You don't. You never understood much of anything." The human said. Their voice sounded so familiar. It sounded angry, sad and tired all at the same time. Flowey hated it.

"Will this help?" They asked, pushing the hair out of their face.

Flowey went cold. The shadow that had passed over their face the first time they had met was back. Even without the light of their soul, their eyes were a bright red, and full of hatred. They were smiling, and Flowey knew that face. He knew who it was but they couldn't be here, it couldn't be them, they were dead, they were gone, they were dead.

"Chara." Flowey whispered.

Chara laughed again.

"Ah, finally. It's been so long since Frisk has given me control and people actually recognize me." They tilted their head and smiled at Flowey again. "But I guess it makes sense that it's you, Azi."

The casual use of his old nickname unsettled him. Suddenly, memories of Chara came flooding back: When he had found Chara lying after they had fallen, playing together, eating pie together, helping mom bake pie, Chara crying on their bed in the middle of the night, Chara leaving the dinner table early, Chara whispering to him in the middle of the night, about how they hated themself about how they hated humans, about how they hated this miserable existence. Chara lying dead on their bed, him absorbing their soul, the surface, the humans trying to kill him, the feeling of Chara's soul in his, the feeling of his soul being ripped out of his body. Waking up as a flower.

And then he remembered something else. He remembered Chara in Frisk's body as they stood before him smiling, in New Home, as he went on about how they would be willing to kill, Chara's face twisting into a smug, creepy smile. He remembered how he had begged for mercy, and how Chara had ignored his pleas and had smashed him into the ground, cutting through him like he was nothing, that horrible smile still on their face.

Fear flooded Flowey. The grey was gone, ripped apart to let room for this overwhelming fear. He wished he could go back.

"Ah, there we go, Azi's back." Chara said condescendingly. "I get that you're confused, so let me spell this out for you."

They opened their mouth to begin to talk, but Flowey interjected.

"Does Frisk want me dead?"

Chara frowned at the interruption.

"Didn't mom tell you not to interrupt?" They sighed. "But no, they don't. But you know what they do want? They want Papyrus to be happy. And you are standing in the way."

"Did Frisk raise your LV? Did they kill-"

"SHUT UP ABOUT FRISK!!" Chara yelled. Flowey went still. "If you will just LET ME SPEAK, then I can explain."

Flowey closed his mouth, biting his tongue. Chara smiled at his reaction.

"Very good, now I will try to explain.

"I have always been in Frisk. Ever since they first fell down into this hell-hole, I was there. I watched them screw up. I watched them kill Toriel on their first run, and I watched them sit by the dust and cry, begging her to come back. I watched them meet people, learn how to spare them, and I hated it. It was boring, and I did nothing except talk to them sometimes, interjecting my thoughts into theirs. It was the worst.

"I had to endure several of these runs before something new happened. They fixed everything. By caring about people instead of hurting them, they managed to fix everything. They beat you, and you used the souls to open the barrier, and they went to live among the humans as one big happy family. And I knew that my life was going to be incredibly different.

"But then, they reset the timeline. They ripped everyone out of their happy ending and forced them back underground, including you, and did it again. I was the only one besides them who remembered anything. I asked them why they did it, and they said that they were bored as well. I remember calling them crueler than me. They didn't understand.

"I endured this many different times, the exact same thing in the exact same way. Until they got just as bored as me. They entered the ruins for the first time, and when Toriel left, they started to slaughter innocents. They would hunt down froggits and whimsums and moldsmals and murder them ruthlessly. It was the most fun I had in ages. As they moved through the different stages, I grew stronger and stronger. We killed Papyrus, Undyne, Sans, everyone. And then we killed you.

"They cried for ages when it was over. I tried to reason with them, tell them that it was fun, remind them of how excited they were when they had finally defeated Sans. I tried to reignite that joy. They gave me their soul to reset the timeline.

"After that, I was much stronger inside of Frisk. We talked from time to time. We learned more about each other, and I would say that we became friends. And through Frisk, in some bizarre way, I learned not to hate the Underground."

They frowned, and looked at the ground. Tears began to form at the corners of their eyes, but they blinked them way.

"I learned to love this place through Frisk and their love for others. When we came down and saw that you had been messing around, Frisk was determined to fix this, to fix the brokenness that you had left behind. And I'm determined to help, no matter what that means."

They gripped their knife harder, and shifted their weight.

"W-w-what are y-you trying to say?" Flowey stammered, shrinking back, away from his former sibling.

"I'm saying that you are hurting Frisk and their friends, and because I care about Frisk, I am going to remove the source of their pain."

They suddenly rushed towards Flowey with inhuman speed. He tried to counterattack, but his attacks did nothing. Chara grabbed Flowey by the stem, holding him down against the rocky ground. The raised the knife, aimed at his face. They were smiling, but not in the twisted way that they were before, but rather, in a triumphant, but sad smile. A determined smile.

"Please!" Flowey begged. "Don't do this! I c-c-can't!"

Chara lowered their knife a fraction of an inch. Their smile faded.

"How many times," They whispered. "How many times did Papyrus ask that of you? How many times did he beg on his knees for mercy? How many times did you deny that from him?"

Flowey said nothing. He couldn't speak through the fear that was pulsing through his veins.

"ANSWER ME!!" They yelled, tears falling from their face. "TELL ME HOW MANY TIMES YOU HURT HIM WHEN YOU KNEW THAT HE WOULD NEVER FIGHT YOU BACK!!!"

The fear racing through Flowey intensifies, pounding through him. All he knew then was the fear.

Chara was really crying now, tears streaming down their face.

"Oh, Asriel. How did this happen? You used to be the good sibling. And I-" Their crying cut them off. "What happened?"

Flowey didn't respond. He couldn't move or speak or think.

Chara looked down at Flowey's face. Their eyes were filled with determination.

"I'm not sorry, Flowey."

And then they struck.


	13. Chapter 13

Frisk gasped as the knife struck Flowey.

No. No no no.

"You've gained 0 gold and 10 EXP" The shock of that knocked the wind out of them. How could they let that happen? They tried to get control before this would happen.

"I-I didn't want this," Frisk gasped out. "How could you - I said no!" Frisk fell to their knees in the flowers dust, shaking and crying.

"He didn't - why?" Frisk didn't expect an answer, but got one anyways.

"He was hurting you and your friends. He deserved this, don't worry, he can't hurt you or your friends now," Chara replied, trying to soothe Frisk. "Besides, you can leave now," Frisk looked at the door, seeing the vines had disappeared.

Of course they had. Flowey - Asriel - was dead. They couldn't have sustained after that. Frisk wanted to leave, they just wanted to go curl up beside one of her friends, but they couldn't move them self. They sat in the cave, not knowing the next time they would move.

________________________________________________________________________________

 

Papyrus was the first to wake up the next morning. He looked beside him, seeing Sans still curled against him and Undyne asleep on the opposite end of the couch. On the floor was Alphys and Toriel. He sat up straight, looking around and listening.

Frisk.

"Bro, wassamatter?" Sans asked sleepily, waking up from the sudden movement.

"Where's Frisk?"

"On the floor,"

"No, they're not there,"

Sans sat up and looked, then started listening too.

"Well, they couldn't have gotten far,"

"Unless Flowey got them," Papyrus said, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry.

"No. How could he?" Sans said, moving to stand quickly, accidentally kicking Toriel.

"Shit, sorry, Torri," he whispered.

"Just watch Frisk," she murmured before turning over.

"Tha- that's gonna be a problem. They're gone,"

"What?" Toriel almost yelled, jerking up and pulling at the blankets.

"F-frisk? This isn't funny, Frisk. Come out right now!" She said sharply, looking like she was going to start crying. Toriel’s yell had woken both Undyne and Alphys and they looked at the skeletons in confusion.

"Th-this is my fault. I'm sorry, Toriel, if I had gone last night, this wouldn't have-" Papyrus started, looking at the floor.

"What happened?" Undyne asked, looking pretty alert for someone who had just woken up.

"Frisk's gone, we think Flowey took them," Sans said, as he headed to the kitchen, hoping to find them in there.

"Papyrus, this isn't your fault. He would have gone for us eventually, it’s better you're not getting hurt. Besides, we're gonna find that son of a bitch and get our human back," Undyne told Papyrus, grabbing his shoulders. He was surprised. Was Undyne warming up to Frisk? It seemed unlikely, but still.

"No," Toriel said quietly, looking at the mattress in shock. "I can't lose another one," Papyrus avoided eye contact with Toriel, not being able to bear what her face would look like. Instead, he concentrated on Sans, who had just come back out of the kitchen shaking his head.

"I should have just stayed awake. I was debating, but then..." Sans sighed, and looked at the group. "Well? Come on, we gotta find the kid,"

________________________________________________________________________________

"Citizens of Snowdin, new evidence has come to light regarding Papyrus' case. It appears that Sans was not the one assaulting Papyrus, but rather a golden flower who goes by Flowey. If you see him, you are to contact a guardsman or woman immediately. Do not, I repeat, do not, approach the flower. It has been proven to be extremely dangerous," Undyne called over the crowd of monsters that had surrounded the skeleton's residence. Undyne turned to the group hovering in the doorway. "I'm gonna call the rest of the guard, to get them on high alert. Alphys, get the dogs. They'll be able to sniff out Frisk. Papyrus, you know this place better than anyone else. You and Sans search the forest, anywhere you think that the flower could've taken them."

After her directions were given, she sprang forward and ran towards Waterfall, to assemble the rest of the guard. Alphys hurried off to get the dogs, muttering and murmuring under her breath. Toriel stood alone in the doorway, staring vacantly into space.

The townsfolk began to talk amongst themselves, gossiping excitedly.

"A flower, how odd"

"I told you he would never hurt his brother..."

"Such a sudden change of mind...Do you think he weaseled his way out of the sentence...?"

Sans grabbed Papyrus' arm.

"C'mon bro. We need to find that kid."

Papyrus looked down at Sans. The lights in his eyes were curiously dark, and he was slumped over more than usual. His grip on Papyrus' arm tightened as a large group grew silent as they passed, and whispered to each other when they were gone.

"Let's search the forest first." Papyrus said, his eyes narrowing determinedly.

Together the two brothers walked through the crowd, ignoring the pointed looks and whispers as they hurried towards the town's limits. Papyrus had a pretty good idea as to where Flowey would have taken the human. Images of their countless late night practices raced through his mind. The clearing. They had to be there.

But they weren't there. The clearing was empty. Papyrus' heart sank. Where else could they be? He thought long and hard as Sans poked around the area, looking for something.

"The hill......?" Papyrus whispered. It was worth a shot. "Come Sans, I have another idea.

As they came closer and closer to the hill, Papyrus' stomach tied itself into increasingly tighter knots. What if they weren’t there? What if they never found Frisk? What of they were already dead?

His breathing quickened, and he sped up.

They couldn't be late. They had to be fast, or they'd be too late, and they would be gone, and they would never make cookies with them again, or colour all over Sans, or have all of their Band-Aids when he needed them, or stay up late with him or-

They reached the top of the hill.

It was empty.

Papyrus fell to the ground, his breathing was barely getting through now, he was just barely staying conscious. They had failed.

Sans was about to say something, but stopped when they heard the sound.

A human was screaming.

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

Frisk grabbed at their face, screaming and crying, trying to drown out Chara's words. It worked, but it hurt their mouth and throat and head. A splitting headache was beginning to form in their head, but they couldn't stop and hear what Chara was saying, their words were too much, they were wrong, they were wrong.

Frisk's voice gave out, and they fell face first onto the ground, gasping for breath. Chara was not talking. The last of Frisk's screams continued to echo off of the stone walls. They opened their eyes, just a crack. They knew what was there, but needed to see it again, make sure it was real, and not some horrible dream.

Flowey's body lay broken on the ground, a knife lay beside him.

Frisk started to cry quietly again.

"Oh my god, stop crying." Chara said, inside of Frisk's mind. They didn't know where Chara came from, and sometimes enjoyed their company, but Chara's patience was wearing thin, and they were starting to get mean.

"Come on, Frisk. This is a good thing. Papyrus is safe. He'll be happy. Isn't this what you wanted?"

Not like this, Not like this, Not like this, Not like this, Never like this

The mantra repeated in their head, blocking out all other thoughts. They never wanted this. Chara sighed.

"But how else do you suggest that you fix this? He had changed this world, your usual rules don't apply."

Thoughts of peace, and healing ran through Frisk's mind. Images of pacifist outcomes, friends and the surface flashed forward and blurred together.

"That would never work!" Chara was beginning to get angry. "Because of Flowey, the only thing that this world could ever offer is DEATH AND MISERY!! WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THIS!?!?"

Chara's yelling didn't echo through the cave like Frisk's. Instead it echoed through the mind, infecting all of their thoughts with DEATH AND MISERY. They began to cry again.

"STOP CRYING!!" Chara yelled. Frisk could feel their impatience. "YOU'RE JUST LIKE ASRIEL!!"

Frisk froze. Were they? If they were like Asriel, and Asriel became Flowey, and he....to Papyrus...

Papyrus's face flashed in their mind, his arm were outstretched, and he was saying something. 'I know you can do better.' Then he was turning to dust, dying and dead on the ground and the knife was in Frisk's hands and they were turning and continuing on, towards Waterfall, his dust lying forgotten in the snow.

"You got bored, so you tried something different. Something new. You cared only about your own happiness and your own enjoyment, and I grew stronger. If you hate me being here now, just remember that it is ALL YOUR FAULT!!"

Frisk was screaming again, trying desperately to drown out Chara's words that turned mean when they were not getting the reaction they wanted.

"STOP TRYING TO BLAME ME FOR YOUR PROBLEMS!!"

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

"The cave. They're in the cave!"

The two skeletons rushed towards the forgotten mystery of Snowdin. The screams were back now, anguished sounds of pain and sorrow. Papyrus's magic was swirling around him. If Flowey had dared to touch his friends, then he was going to make sure that Flowey regretted it. He was also filled with something else. The prospect of seeing Flowey again, even in daylight and with Sans and Frisk there filled him with terror. But he was going to do this. He had to.

Sans and Papyrus burst into the cave to find Frisk on the ground, clutching at their head, tears streaming down their face, screaming. Flowey lay dead on the ground in front of them.

He was dead. Gone. Papyrus knew that he should be happy, no more late night training, no more broken bones, no more hiding, no more pain. But instead, he felt blank. Like he had been wiped clean. He was numb.

Flowey had been a major part of his life for a long time. Even though Flowey was a decidedly bad part of his life, his presence was a sort of routine. A horrible, dreadful painful routine, but a routine nonetheless. But now...

The numbness was beginning to leave a little bit. Sans was trying to comfort the crying Frisk, but they kept screaming and yelling, sobbing and begging for something to stop. And Papyrus got the feeling that it wasn't Sans.

He walked over to Frisk and gently picked them up. Frisk stopped screaming to look up into Papyrus' face. He could see a war of emotions flashing through their eyes, fear, confusion, panic and sadness all wrapped up together in a horrible mixture. They leaned into Papyrus and clutched his shirt, going silent and still.

Papyrus stood up and murmured comforting words to the small human. Their breathing relaxed and deepened until they were asleep.

Sans sighed in relief.

"They're ok." Sans started to laugh, but quickly broke down into tears.

"Are you ok, Sans?" Papyrus asked, concerned. He hated it when Sans cried.

"Are you kiddin? I'm great!" He looked up, and Papyrus realized he was crying with joy. "I thought they were hurt, but they're ok, and they fought back!"

He gestured towards where Flowey lay, still and broken.

"They did something that no one else could do. They got rid of the monster that was hurting my brother." He smiled at Papyrus. "C'mon bro, let's go home."

As the two brothers walked back towards the town, something about what Sans said nagged at the back of Papyrus' mind. No one had been able to defeat Flowey. Not even Papyrus shooting his strongest magical attack at point-blank range had been enough to even faze the flower. How had Frisk done it? They had not hurt a single monster in the underground, and had shown no capacity to attack.

Before long, they arrived back at the house, and they tried to enter quietly. When they stepped in, Toriel was immediately upon them, looking at Frisk in Papyrus' arms and sending a flurry of questions upon them.

"Are they sleeping? Did they seem ok? Where did you find them? Are you ok with them like that? Should we move them to a more comfortable spot?" Papyrus almost felt dizzy by the amount of questions.

"Yes, no, a mysterious cave, I think so, up to him," Sans answered for him, motioning to Papyrus as he answered the last question.

"Uh, I'll put them down here..." Papyrus answered, laying Frisk down on the couch. Toriel moved next to Frisk and laid a hand on their forehead. She made a ‘tsking’ noise then moved towards the kitchen.

"So, someone should tell Undyne we found them. You want me to..." Sans asked, trailing off.

"No, it's fine. I'll go," Papyrus told him, hurrying to get out of the house. As soon as he was he leaned against the wall and took some deep breathes.

Flowey was actually...gone. He wasn't coming back. The training was done, everything was done. He could go back to a normal life now. He could try, and there would be no more secrets between him and Sans. But there was one thing that was still bothering him.

He got up off the wall and left to find Undyne, the thought still at the back of his head. How had Frisk beaten Flowey? Flowey was much stronger than Frisk, unless Frisk had killed monsters.

But even if they did, it still didn't make sense. Even if Frisk killed a couple of monsters, which seemed impossible considering their stats, they shouldn't be strong enough.

Papyrus shook his head. That was something to worry about later. He could just ask Frisk, right? But...they're just a little kid. Would that even be appropriate?

"Papyrus!" A voice called out, and he looked to see Undyne walking to him.

"I thought you were looking for the kid, did you find them?" Undyne asked when she was close enough their conversation wouldn't be heard.

"Yeah, just...something's bugging me about it though. Also, you - you can call off the search for Flowey. He's dead," Papyrus told Undyne and she looked at him shocked.

"You-"

"No, not me. Frisk," Undyne's eyes opened even bigger.

"Th - that little kid? They haven't hurt anyone, have they?"

"Not according to their stats, that's why it's confusing me," Papyrus told her, and she looked even more confused than him.

"I'll swing by later, we'll figure it out. Go get some rest, Papyrus," she told him before walking away. Papyrus looked after her for a moment before heading back to his house. It might be nice to get some actual rest, anyways.

He re-entered the house. Toriel was still holding Frisk close, fussing over them, and Sans lay on the couch watching T.V. He glanced up at Papyrus when he came in. He sat up and patted the couch beside him, so that Papyrus could sit and join him. A sudden wave of exhaustion swept over Papyrus. He didn't want to sit with the others. He didn't want to talk to them, or even be around them.

He shook his head and made his way up the stairs to his room. Sans shrugged and lay back down on the couch. Sans mumbled a half-hearted 'goodnight' and turned back to his show.

Papyrus entered his room. It was not the cleanest. Dirty clothes were all over the floor and the bed was unmade. The sight of the mess upset him. He hated messy rooms, but he was too tired to do anything about it.

He fell onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. The room was too light to sleep, the strange inexplicable light that illuminated the underground everyday was streaming in through the window. He could get up and close the blinds, but he didn't want to leave the bed.

Flowey was dead.

He was struck by the sudden realization. His breathing quickened, and he didn't even know why. He covered his eyes with his hands to try and block out the light.

Flowey was dead.

The image of the broken remains of the monster that had hurt him so much filled his mind. The yellow petals ripped and scattered across the snow, his mouth open in a never-ending plea. The monster who had always been so much stronger than him had finally met their match.

Flowey was dead.

The human had killed them.

Or at least that was the only explanation that made sense. But Frisks' stats were so low, and Flowey was so hard to damage let alone kill. It didn't fit, but it was the only explanation. But then why were they screaming so hard when Sans and Papyrus had found them?

Papyrus didn't understand, and his mind was too tired to come up with any solutions. the same few thoughts circled endlessly around in his mind. Sleep was impossible, but he couldn't do anything else except lay there.

He could hear Sans and Toriel talking downstairs, their voices were muffled by the closed door, and so he couldn't hear what they were saying. The very faint hum of the refrigerator slipped in underneath their words, like a backdrop to some quiet play. The clock on his dresser ticked very steadily, ticking the time away. Voices of monsters outside floated in through the window, even though it was closed. Their words were also hidden by distance.

The mixture of sounds was all that Papyrus knew for a while. Everything else faded away, lost in the deep waters of worry, they were not now. They were problems to deal with later, they were the future, and so they were not real. They were the remnants of events that had past, and so they were not real. All that was real were the sounds of the house, the sounds of the life around him, and the feeling of his mattress against his back. Everything else did not exist.

This comforted Papyrus. The image of Flowey that was imprinted into his mind left him. That was in the past. It was not affecting him right now, and so he didn't care about it. The confusion about Frisk and their stats floated away into nothingness. That was in the future. It did not affect him until later, so he didn't care. His mind only cared for the hum of the fridge and the quiet symphony of hushed voices.

Eventually, he drifted to sleep, surrounded by the music of the mundane.


	14. Chapter 14

“C’mon, it could be fun!”

The two siblings were playing in the throne room. The garden of golden flowers was under their feet, and a soft golden light came down from the ceiling, bathing the children in its glow. It was late afternoon, and they were both beginning to get bored and lazy in the summer heat.

“I don’t know, what if Mom catches us?”

They were sitting together beneath the throne, colouring books and toys left abandoned. Their games had all run out.

“Don’t be silly, she won’t be mad!” 

“I don’t know if this is a good idea… Maybe we shouldn’t.”

“.....Ok…..We won’t”

The two siblings flopped down among the golden flowers that covered the grassy ground. The monster child began to pick at them, stripping them of their petals, and leaving broken bits of the plants on the ground. The human gently ran their hands through the plants, caressing their fragile leaves. They talked and laughed in the lull of the summer afternoon. 

Eventually, the golden light streaming down from the ceiling began to fade, as the night rolled in. The two children stopped talking and watched the light around them change. Fireflies began to light up the room, their luminescent bodies dancing in the evening. The human stood, trying to catch the small insects, and laughing when they eluded their grasp.

“I’m hungry.” The goat child said. He wasn’t complaining, merely stating a fact. He ripped the flower in his hands in half, a deep look of concentration on his face.

“Yeah. Me too.” The human stopped chasing the bugs. They reached up towards their flight, but did not attempt to change it.

The two children stopped their playing, and stayed perfectly still. The colours of the room faded slightly, and the lightning bugs slowed in their dance, like they were trying to fly through honey. The room grew cold, a sharp wind cut through it, biting the children where their skin was exposed. Neither made any move to keep warm.

“I don’t want to stay here.” The monster whispered. His voice broke the silence. The human child began to shake.

“Where would we go?” They asked. Their voice grew dark, and was also quiet. “The surface?” 

Suddenly, a bright white light flooded the room. Both children shielded their eyes, blinking in the sudden glow. 

When their eyes adjusted to the light, they gasped in surprise. The throne room was gone, replaced by a wide open field. The golden flowers were still there, reaching as far as they could see in every direction, but the children hardly noticed. For in the sky was a beautiful array of stars.

The stars reached out in every direction, filling up the darkness of the sky with pinpoints of light. They twinkled just out of reach, Beautiful blues and pinks and whites. Every once in awhile a streak of light would fall out of the collection of stars, falling down towards where they stood. A faint glowing cloud stretched across the sky, a backdrop to the small, distant lights. Standing alone in the sky, a bright white orb floated, casting its silver light onto the world below.

The monster child reached up towards the vast expanse. The moon reflected in the tears that silently fell down his face.

“What beauty is this? I-I’ve never seen anything like this..” He whispered to his sibling. They looked down at the ground, at the golden flowers all around them.

“We will never reach them. They are too far, and we are too heavy to go up to them.” They were crying too, but for a very different reason.

The monster looked towards the human with a sad smile. He took their hand in his. The humans sweater shifted, revealing faint scars along their wrists. They were stronger in the moonlight. The human looked at the marks, but did not attempt to hide them. If the monster saw them, he did not show it.

“Then maybe they will come down to us.” They both looked back up at the stars. Some of them were falling now, their colours brighter and fuller than the other stars in the sky. Blue, Orange, Indigo, Violet, Green, Yellow. None of them reached the children standing in the field. Neither of the children saw where they went.

“They will never come down for us.” The human said, looking dejectedly at the flower-covered ground. “We are not good enough. We do not deserve the stars.”

The monster looked at his sibling, with concern in his eyes. He wanted to say something to help his friend. He wanted them to know how much he loved them, and how much they deserved his love. He couldn’t say anything. The golden flowers caught his eye. He hated their cruel beauty. He wanted to get away from them, but he couldn’t. They surrounded him.

“Maybe we don’t” He replied. “Maybe we don’t deserve the stars. But maybe they will fall anyways.”

The human didn’t look up.

“If the stars do not fall for us,” The monster continued, “Then we will have to be our own stars”

When they looked back at the sky, they saw a bright red star breaking away from the rest of the stars. It fell down to the earth, It’s bright light drowning out the other stars in the sky. It came filled with beauty, but a terrible, conflicting beauty. It came filled with the beauty of the light of destruction, and the beauty of the light of growth. Neither child was afraid.

The star crashed into the earth in front of the two siblings. It smashed into the ground, sending dirt and flowers and grass flying. The heat it gave off washed over the two siblings, an uncomfortable heat.

Neither child was afraid.

They were no longer hungry.

____________________________________________________________________________

Frisk awoke to the sound of their own tears, their dream quickly fading into the realm of the forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot of symbolism in it...if any of it confuses you, message @allegedllama or myself (@sparowswan) on tumblr for an explanation :)


	15. Chapter 15

Papyrus stood in the shop aisle, looking for milk. Toriel had sent him out to get some basic groceries, as having 3 extra people in their house made them run out of supplies very quickly. Although Undyne had gone back to her house in Waterfall. He was glad for an excuse to get out of the house. Everyone seemed to be very reluctant to let him do anything for himself, Toriel insisted on cooking and cleaning, Undyne forced him to take a 'vacation' from work, and even Sans seemed to be babying him, allowing him to just sit around all day, while Sans was out doing sentry work. Papyrus was sick of it.

He found the milk and moved on the next item on his list: Cheese. He was still in the dairy section, so he found it very easily. And he continued on to the next item on his list.

He continued in this manner until he had almost all the items on his list. It was still pretty early, so the store was rather empty. There were a few people around, but he never really got a chance to interact with any of them.

When he had gotten every item on his list, he went to the counter to pay. The shopkeeper was still half asleep, but she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey there, Papyrus" She said, as she started to count up the items. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing ok." Papyrus responded. He squirmed at the question. He didn't know why, but it made him uncomfortable.

"How's yer brother?" She asked. She seemed to be paying closer attention to this question. 

"He's doing ok." Papyrus hated gossip. He especially hated gossip about his brother. Unfortunately, his brother had always been the town's favourite topic to gossip about.

"I heard Captain Undyne pardoned 'im." The storekeeper said, absentmindedly.

"Yeah, because he didn't do anything." Papyrus retorted. He was beginning to get angry now. He wished that she would hurry up and let him leave.

"Right, right. My bad" The storekeeper said hastily. There was an awkward pause. "So, what was that weird skull attack this of his?"

Papyrus grabbed his bags of groceries, slapped some gold onto the table and left the store. He felt a little bit bad about being so rude, but she had gone too far.

As he walked back to his house, a few of the citizens greeted him on the street. They were never rude, and a few of them really seemed to care about him, but the conversation always turned itself back to gossip about Sans. Everytime he got a little bit angrier.

He finally reached his house. He accidentally slammed the door after he was in, making Frisk jump.

"Sorry." He said to them, taking his bags to the kitchen. Frisk smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. 

"Did something happen while you were out?" Toriel asked. She was sitting on the couch knitting.

"No, people just-" Papyrus sighed. "People are just too nosy."

Toriel frowned. "I know what you mean." She said.

Papyrus opened the fridge and started to put away the groceries. Frisk came up and started to help him, but a lot of the items were too heavy for them, so they ended up just watching. Papyrus didn't mind.

After the job was done, Frisk went back to their spot by the T.V where they had been colouring. Toriel watched them for a little while and then got up to talk to Papyrus in the kitchen.

"I fear something is wrong with Frisk." She whispered to Papyrus once she made sure that the human in question couldn't hear.

"What do you mean?" Papyrus asked. He tried not to let it happen, but a spike of anxiety flooded through him. 

"They will not talk or sign anything to me, and they keep crying at random times. I can not figure out what is wrong with them." The goat monster wrung her hands anxiously.

Papyrus looked at the human. Nothing appeared to be wrong just by looking at them. They were laying on the ground, crayon in hand, scribbling on the paper. They seemed normal. 

"I'll keep an eye on them" Papyrus resolved. Toriel visibly relaxed.

"Alright then. They really like you, so maybe they will tell you what's wrong, if they will not tell me."

Papyrus sat down beside Frisk. They looked up at him, and moved over to give him room. They looked back down at their drawing, at kept colouring. Papyrus looked down at what the human had been drawing. It was mostly just colours, and it was mainly yellow. There were two spots in the yellow, but Frisk's arm blocked out Papyrus's view before he could tell what it was supposed to be.

Just then Sans came in through the door. He flopped down on the couch, and mumbled a greeting.

"Hello Sans." Toriel said, looking up from her knitting. "How was work?"

Sans mumbled something, but the couch muffled his response.

"What?" Papyrus asked.

"I said it was fucking terrible." Sans said, lifting his face high enough for him to be heard and then he let it fall back onto the couch.

"Sans, what did we say about swearing around Frisk?" Toriel demanded. Her eyes were narrowed at Sans. He just sighed.

"What happened?" Papyrus asked. Sans mumbled into the couch cushions again, and made no attempt to make himself more comprehensible. Nobody said anything for a long time. Toriel continued with her knitting. Frisk continued drawing, and Sans fell asleep on the couch. Papyrus sat, taking all of it in.

After awhile, the quiet sound of Frisk flipping the page over broke the silence. They chose a new colour of crayon -blue- and began to write on the back of their drawing. Papyrus closed his eyes. The house was too quiet, too empty. He never used to spend so much time inside, and he was beginning to hate being trapped inside. He didn't want to face nosy gossiping neighbours though, so he decided to stay inside.

His mind drifted off into a half-asleep state. Dreams drifted through his mind, mixing with the sounds of the room. the soft sound of the crayon against paper, the clicking of the knitting needles merged with visions of snow and magic swirling around him. After a while, the sounds stopped, but the visions stayed. He heard a door open and close, very softly.

He didn't know how long he had slept, but when he woke up, the room was dim with the faint light of evening. Toriel and Sans hadn't moved, but were both asleep. As he looked around the room, he realized that something was wrong. His half-asleep brain couldn't pinpoint what it was, so he looked around frantically, looking for what gave him such an uncomfortable feeling.

His eyes finally settled on the floor. Paper and crayons were scattered everywhere. A neatly folded paper lay in the middle of the mess. Frisk was nowhere to be seen.


	16. Chapter 16

Frisk reached the edge of Waterfall with no problem. Papyrus and Sans were still in the house, asleep. As they passed the vacant hotdog stand, they felt a twinge of guilt, but Chara's quick whispering pushed it back down.

you are helping them. you will make this better. you will fix this.

They were soon surrounded by damp walls. The sound of their footsteps echoed off the close walls. Frisk increased their speed.

They made their way through the caverns quickly, calling up past memories. When their brain failed them, Chara was quick to help. As they walked through a tall patch of grass, they decided to confront the other human.

'Are you sure this will work?' Frisk asked. There was a small pause, that held a world of doubt.

'Yes' Chara finally replied.

'Won't they miss us?' Frisk asked, pushing the tall grass aside, struggling to walk through the plants.

'We left a note.' Chara replied. 

'Will it be enough?' They finally made it out of the grass. Their feet landed on the hard stone floor again.

Chara didn't reply.

Frisk frowned, and kept walking.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toriel woke up to Papyrus' frantic shouts. She blinked her eyes open, and saw Papyrus running through the house, calling Frisks name.

"What's going on?" Toriel asked. She put aside her knitting needles. She had been watching Frisk, but then, she had fallen asleep? They weren't on the floor anymore.

"I don't know where they are!" Papyrus yelled. He was grabbing at his face and breathing quickly. Toriel felt a stab of panic. She got up immediately and started ran over to Papyrus.

“What do you mean?” She asked, looking into his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. 

Toriel frantically scanned the room. Her eyes fell on the abandoned drawings that Frisk had been doing before she had fallen asleep. There was a folded piece of paper. Toriel picked it up and unfolded it. It was a note, written in Frisk’s messy handwriting. 

‘Dear mom

im sorry for leaving, but chara says we need to. papyrus is hurt, and sans it hurt, and undyne and alphys and you are hurt too. everyone is hurt, and chara says that i can stop it. i dont know if their plan will work, but i think its a good idea. everyone is talking about the surface, and they all want to go there. i know that i can make that happen. im going to asgore. im going to open the barrier. please dont miss me, i wont be gone forever

love, Frisk’

Toriel stared at the words for a long time. One word stood out in particular. Chara. Chara was back? Didn’t they die? Toriel had seen their body, it didn’t make any sense. Tears began to roll down her face, but she made no move to wipe them away. Deep down she had always known that Frisk wouldn’t stay with her forever, but she still felt terrible now that it happened. She sat down on the couch. The tears were coming faster now, and her body began to shake with suppressed sobs.

Frisk was gone. They were going to Asgore. They were going to try to open the barrier. Everyone knew how well that had worked out for the last six humans.

Papyrus took the note from her hands. She made no move to stop him. He read it in silence. He read it again, as if he was desperately trying tell himself it wasn’t true. Eventually, he sat down with a sob beside Toriel. he buried his face in his hands and shook quietly.

“What are we going to do now?” Toriel whispered.

“We’re going to get them back”


	17. Chapter 17

Aside from the occasional Woshua or Aaron, Frisk was practically alone in the winding passages of Waterfall. They enjoyed the silence, as it allowed them to think about what they were about to do. It also let them talk to Chara.

“Are you sure it will make everyone happy?” They asked Chara quietly. 

“Don’t be a baby, of course it will.” They replied sullenly. “If you’re gonna chicken out, then just do it. Don’t waste my time.”

“If it’s going to make them happy, I want to do it,” Frisk replied, slightly louder and more determined. 

“Then quit complaining to me about it.” Chara retorted.

“Chara, why do you care about them all so much now? You didn’t used to,” 

“Shut up, someone’s coming!” 

Sure enough, Frisk could hear the sound of hurried footsteps echoing through the caves. They ducked into a side cave and waited for them to pass. 

As the footsteps came closer and closer to the entrance to the cave they were hiding in, they could hear their heartbeat speed up. They had no idea what they were going to do if they got caught. They hadn’t planned that far ahead.

A cell phone rang. The high pitched ringing bounced off the walls, and amplified, forcing Frisk to cover their ears. They winced as the owner of the cell phone answered it. It was Undyne.

“Yeah, I know, I’m coming right now.”

She sounded upset. Frisk felt a flush of guilt, because they knew that they had somehow caused this.

“Yeah, yeah i have a search party set up, they’re just waiting to be sent off.”

Frisk heart stopped. They were going to search for them? What would happen if they found them, and tried to force them away from the barrier. How would they fix Papyrus and everyone else then?

“What do you mean? Let them go? Don’t you want them back?”

Frisk listened intently, but couldn’t make out what the person on the other end was saying. 

“Fine! I’ll call off the search party.”

Frisk let out a small sigh of relief. They were safe.

“Listen, I better get over there fast, I’ll call you back.”

There was a beep, signaling the end of the call, and then Undyne ran off in the direction of Snowdin.

“Are you sure this is going to make everyone happy? Undyne looked really sad,” Frisk asked as they stepped out to continue their journey.

“Look, maybe you don’t get this, but what makes them sad now will make them happier later on. Now stop whining,” Chara snapped back.

“Ok. I trust you” Chara went strangely silent as they continued their journey. 

They walked a little farther on, until they came to the room with all the echo flowers. Their mystical blue glow entranced the small human. They stood there for a moment, watching the petals shimmer in the unnatural glow of the water below. They took a step towards the flowers, and they all erupted into a symphony is whispers. Wishes, stories, conversations of passersby, declarations of love and secrets, all entrusted to the flowers.

Frisk sat down beside a small flower. It said nothing as Frisk sat beside it. No one had decided to entrust anything to it yet. It’s small petals and curved stem reminded Frisk of someone. Flowey. They leaned in close and cupped their hand beside their mouth and whispered to the echo flower. The flower began to repeat the whisper, over and over:

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save you too, Asriel.’

Some of the flowers directly beside it began to repeat its message. Frisk stood up and looked down on the flowers that would carry their message. Frisk wished that Flowey could hear it. Chara said nothing.

The two humans walked away from the flowers, each lost in their own thoughts.

Frisk continued down the path of flowers for a few minutes until Chara piped up again.

“You won’t be able to get through this way.” They said.

“What do you mean?” Frisk stopped walking. “I always go this way.”

“This isn’t your normal resets, dumbass.” Chara muttered. Frisk frowned. “Flowey fucked everything up.”

“You don’t need to swear.” Frisk said. The two of them were silent for a while.

“Fine!” Chara finally said. “But I’m still right.”

Frisk thought about it. Chara was right. The way they were going would only lead to the wooden walkways, where Undyne would make them fall down to the dump, but she was heading to Snowdin. Frisk mapped out all the paths they knew, looking for some way to get to Waterfall’s exit.

They only came up with one idea.

They began to backtrack, heading back to the flowers. Chara asked where they were going, but Frisk didn’t respond. They weren’t looking forward to their plan, but it was the only way. They went past the flowers and turned towards the gap. The small yellow bird sat on the other side of the water. The water was glowing, as all the water did in Waterfall. Frisk stared into its depths. because of the light, they couldn’t see how deep it was, or if there was anything lurking,

They took a deep breath, calming their nerves. This was not going to be pleasant.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to do what I think you’re going to do” Chara said. Frisk ignored them.

Before they could change their mind, they jumped into the water.

The water was surprisingly warm. It was too deep for Frisk to touch the bottom, so they tried to swim. They flailed their arms and legs, but they only made a splash. The bird waiting on the other side began to get agitated, screeching and flapping their wings in vain. Frisk tried to calm down, and kicked hard against the water. They smacked their foot against a rock, and pain danced through their leg. They gasped in pain and stopped kicking. They sank underneath the water.

They struggled to get back to the surface, but they didn’t know what to do. Bubbles rose around them as they started to panic. The water continued to glow underwater, blinding them when they tried to open their eyes. They were running out of air. Their vision danced, and they couldn’t think straight. Their feet touched the bottom and they pushed off of it, trying to reach the surface, but they weren't strong enough. The panic faded as they realized that they were going to drown and die. They closed their eyes and admitted defeat.

“Give me control” 

Frisk’s eyes jolted open as Chara spoke. 

“Give me control”

They didn’t have much choice. They nodded, as they couldn’t talk through the water.

Immediately, their legs began to move, pushing off the ground and kicking hard. Their arms helped to propel them too, moving together as a unit. They quickly approached the surface as Chara swam upwards. The shimmering top of the water came closer and closer.

They broke through the surface, gasping and coughing for air. The air tasted sweet as it filled their lungs once again. They swam forwards, towards the other side of the gap. The bird was flying around the top of the water now, still screaming. Their arms cut powerfully through the water. Their hand grabbed the stone edge and began to pull themself up out of the water. The bird flew down and grabbed their water-logged sweater with their legs and hoisted them upwards.

Once they were on solid ground, Chara’s control faded. Frisk began to cough, gasping for air as their body started to recover. The glowing water streamed down their face, mixing with tears as it dripped down and landed on the stone below them. The bird watched anxiously as they coughed and cried. Just as they thought they were recovered, their body heaved, and they vomited.

When they were finished, they curled up and began to sob, the terror of the event truly sinking in. They were dying at the bottom of the river, and if Chara hadn’t stepped in, they would not have escaped.

After they had cried themself raw, they lay there, still and unmoving. they were exhausted, and quickly fell asleep. They dreamed of deep oceans and screaming birds.

When they had woken up, the bird was still there. Their clothes had already dried. They stood up slowly. As soon as they started moving pain jolted through their head. Wincing, they clutched their head and kept moving.

They walked into a calm room. They could see Undyne’s house. All of it’s lights were off, and it was dark inside. After a moment of watching the empty house, they continued on.

As they walked, the scenery started to blur together. They didn’t talk to Chara, they didn’t stop for anything. It took all of their concentration to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes they would close their eyes and walk blindly through the caverns. They usually opened them back up when they ran into a wall.

They reached a dark room. Mushrooms on the ground illuminated part of the path. Frisk stopped and stared at the darkened path for a long time. They knew that there was a puzzle here, but, they couldn’t remember how to do it. They knew it had something to do with the mushrooms, but…

“What’s the holdup?” Chara asked. Their voice made Frisk jump. Pain stabbed through their temple.

“I, I don’t remember where to go.” The finally stammered. They could hear Chara sigh. Their face began to heat up and they thought of a good comeback, but remained silent. Talking hurt too much.

“Fine, just let me do it.”

Frisk didn’t want to give up control so soon. They hated not being in control, and they hated the feeling of having Chara do tasks for them. They remained silent.

“What are you waiting for? I’ll get us through this and then we can continue.”

Chara was getting impatient. Frisk head throbbed as they shook it ‘no’. They took a step along the path. The dim light of the mushrooms faded almost instantly and they were engulfed in darkness.

They took a few more steps and stopped. Did they turn left or right here? Was it a dead end? They couldn’t remember. They tried to call back on memories from before, but their headache forced them to stop. They tried the left.

Instantly they ran into a stone wall, banging their face painfully on the rough surface. Their head responded accordingly, white hot pain danced through their head and yellow spots flew across their vision, contrasting with the endless darkness around them. They fell backwards, clutching their head. They could hear Chara stifling laughter.

“It’s not funny!” They yelled, wincing at the volume of their voice. Chara stopped laughing.

“I-I know…” They stammered. “Well, it-it's, kinda funny,”

Both of them fell into an uncomfortable silence. Frisk stood up shakily, and tried the right, this time with their arms outstretched. 

“Just let me have control! I know the way!” Chara said. Frisk could hear the exasperation in their voice.

“No. I can do it” Frisk’s hands brushed up against a stone wall. They stopped and thought about where they were going.

“You obviously can’t. Why are you being so difficult? Just let me do it already.”

Frisk took a right. Their hands brushed up against a dead end. Chara huffed.

“Why don’t you want to let me help you?”

“YOU NEVER HELP!” Frisk burst out. They were sick with Chara’s constant monologue about how incompetent they were, and they were sick of Chara trying to weasel their way into control. “The first time, you killed someone with my hands! How does that help me? I can’t get his face out of my head.” They were crying now. Once again Flowey’s terrified face jumped into their mind. “How do nightmares help me?”

“You just don’t understand how the world works, just like you don’t understand this fucking puzzle!”

With a sudden burst from Chara, Frisk lost control. They began walking confidently through the darkness. Frisk tried to mentally push Chara out of control, but they couldn’t. They began screaming at Chara from inside their head, but they ignored Frisk. Frisk began to cry again. Chara continued past the fading light of the lanterns, making no move to relight them, even as they died out. They continued into the darkness again. 

Finally, they left the darkness. The cave was filled with light again. Chara gave back control. Frisk fell forward. They scraped their knees on the ground.

“There. You're welcome.” Chara said.

“I SAID I WAS GOING TO DO IT MYSELF!” Frisk yelled.

“Well you were doing a shit job”

Frisk stood up angrily. Their head hurt, and their knees hurt and they were still crying softly, but they continued on. They weren’t going to let Chara win.

They limped through the rest of Waterfall. Tears blurred their vision, and pain blocked out the rest. But they kept going. They stumbled. Their world spun around as they fell towards the ground. They caught themself at the last minute. They painfully stood back up, and continued to limp forwards.

The second time they stumbled, they didn’t catch themself in time. Once again they banged their knees against the floor. They let out a small cry of pain. Gritting their teeth, they got up and continued forwards.

After an hour of slow, painful progress, they could finally see the sign that signalled the end of Waterfall, and the beginning of Hotlands. They took a deep breath and kept walking forwards.

They soon approached a wooden bridge spanning across a large river of lava. They stepped out onto it. The heat from below hit them in the face, making their hair blow backwards. The bridge swung gently under their weight. Frisk too a careful step. The heat mixed with their headache began to make them nauseous.

Keep going, they told themself. Stay determined.

They only took 3 more steps before their physical limits caught up to them, and they passed out.


	18. Chapter 18

Frisk slowly opened their eyes. They were still on the narrow bridge. The heat from the lava below continuously billowed around them. Their face was covered in a thin layer of sweat. They lay like that for a few minutes, orienting themself.

After a while, they stood up, bracing themself against the rope railing. The wooden structure swayed and pitched beneath them. They braced themself and kept moving. Eventually, they reached the other side of the bridge. As soon as they did, they collapsed on the solid ground.

They lay there panting. They dragged themself towards the water cooler by the hotdog stand that was by the wall. After filling a cup, they took a long drink. The water soothed their parched throat, and washed away the lingering taste of muddy water from their misadventure in Waterfall. They filled another cup. Only after they had drank the water did they realize how thirsty they really were. They drank the second cup in a few seconds, and refilled it.

“Calm down, you’re gonna make yourself sick.” Chara said. Frisk ignored them, instead gulping down the third cup as well. After they had drank enough, they leaned their back against the water cooler and sat motionless for a long while.

“You okay there?” Chara asked. Their voice did not hold the same concern as their words did. Frisk nodded.

After a long silence, Frisk spoke.

“Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?”

“What do you mean?” Chara sounded defensive. This was their idea, after all.

“It’s never been this hard before.” Frisk said, closing their eyes. “Even if it had been hard, it didn’t hurt nearly this much.”

Chara was silent for a moment before responding.

“You know how happy the surface makes everyone. I’ve seen it too. Opening that barrier seems to fix everything.”

Frisk smiled. It was true that opening the barrier was the best part about their runs through the underground. They loved to see their faces when they finally saw the sun for the first time. That’s why they kept doing it, over and over.

“But, you said it yourself.” Their smile faded. “This time it’s different. What if they need me back?”

“The surface is all that they ever want!” Chara replied too quickly, too fast. Their voice contained poorly disguised doubt. “Besides, we tried killing Flowey, and that did nothing. All we have left is to try it your way.”

Frisk frowned. “You tried killing Flowey. Not me.”

“Yeah, and it did nothing.”

Frisk huffed. They stood up, using the cooler as support. Walking slowly, they began to make their way towards Alphys’s lab. Their legs shook under their weight, and the room spun around them.

“You don’t seem ok, Frisk.” Chara said. Once again, they didn’t sound concerned. “Maybe you shouldn’t do this right now.”

“I have to.” They replied.

They kept walking. The reddish glow of the lava below lit the looming structure of the lab. It’s white walls seemed unnatural in the middle of the red-brown rock. 

They were so close to the building, but with every step they took, the building seemed to be two steps farther away. Frisk’s legs ached, but they continued to lurch forward. Finally, they reached the door of the lab. With a sigh of relief, they reached out to push open the door.

It was locked.

With a cry of despair they sank down to the ground. Chara tried to offer to take control and find a way inside, but Frisk refused. They lay at the bottom of the door, waiting for something to find them, and help them.

Chara reminded them that if anyone found them, then they would be brought back to Snowdin, and their mission would be failed. All of their work and progress and pain would be for nothing. Frisk didn’t care anymore. They just wanted someone to help them.

Chara reminded them that if they didn’t stay determined, then they would never be able to help their friends, and they would hurt forever, with no one to help fix them. Frisk said nothing. They wanted to help, but their legs wouldn’t support their weight anymore, and their arms could barely move.

Chara began to remind them of something else, when the door slid open. A shadow fell across Frisk as they lay there. Frisk silently begged whoever opened the door to help them. They tried to say something, but only a hoarse croak escaped their mouth. They tried to lift their head to see who it was, but they couldn’t move it. The person who opened the door watched them in silence for a few minutes before speaking.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

The owner of the voice reached down and picked Frisk up. They were small, not much taller than Frisk, but they were incredibly strong. They carried Frisk into the lab. 

The lab was dark on the inside, but the person carrying Frisk didn’t make any move to turn on the lights. Instead they maneuvered around the cluttered space in the dark. Frisk quickly fell into a half-asleep state in this mystery person's arms as they were carried up stairs and laid on a bed. 

They opened their eyes to see the movement of a person leaving the room. They returned a few minutes later. They put a warm bowl into Frisk’s hands and helped prop them up. Frisk looked into the bowl and saw that it was filled with instant noodles. Frisk quickly ate the entire bowl.

“Well, that was rather disgusting.” The person said, with a cheerful voice. They moved forward and picked up the bowl from Frisks hands. “Dr. Alphys always liked that stuff, but I frankly don’t see the appeal. Do you want more, darling?”

It took Frisk a few moments to realize that they had been asked a question. They nodded. With a scoff, the person left with the empty bowl.

They returned again a few minutes later, the food in hand.

“Well, here you are, sweetheart. Eat up. It seems to be helping you. Then you can tell me what you were doing at the door.”

Frisk gulped down the noodles. They burned their mouth and tongue, but the food was helping them. Their mind began to clear, and their vision began to focus. After their bowl was empty again, they looked at the person standing beside their bed. 

Because it was so dark, it was hard to see anything about them really. Frisk couldn’t tell who it was, so they decided to ask. The person laughed at this question.

“Is it really that hard to recognize me? Well, never mind I’ll tell you. My name is Mettaton.” He picked the bowl up from Frisk’s hands again, and put it on a table nearby. “And now, it’s your turn to answer some questions.”

“Alright.” Frisk said. Their mind began to whirl. Was Mettaton going to try to get Alphys, or was he going to try and fight them? They were beginning to feel better, but they knew that if they got into a fight against a monster like Mettaton, they would not last long.

“Wonderful! First question,” Mettaton said. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m, uh, I’m trying to get to Asgore.” Frisk stammered. Mettaton leaned back.

“Oh, how wonderful. But why go to Asgore? There’s not going to be much of anything for you there.”

Frisk stopped. Mettaton had a strange way of talking, as if he knew something that Frisk didn’t. It made Frisk feel slightly unsettled. The darkness of the room didn’t help.

“I- I need to open the barrier.” They said. 

“Hmmm…” Mettaton muttered under his breath. Frisk strained to try and hear what he was saying, but they couldn’t make out any of the words. “You’re going to open the barrier?” He asked finally.

“Yes.” Frisk said. Mettaton moved away from the side of the bed where he was sitting. He flipped a switch and harsh electrical light filled the room, and Frisk got their first real look at the robot.

He was square, with a single wheel. His metal hull was covered in scratches and dents. His screen had a long thin crack running down it.

“You are going to make a lot of monsters very happy, if you do what you say.” He said, moving back towards the bed. “But I can’t imagine that your little, exhibition is going to be very easy.”

Frisk frowned. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that you are going to have quite the story to tell when all of this is over.” Mettaton said. “I’m an entertainer. Stories are my job. Even if I’m not the one telling the story, I want it to be something….interesting”

“What do you mean, interesting?” Frisk asked. They were beginning to feel really uncomfortable around the robot, and Chara was getting impatient in the back of their mind. Mettaton clasped his hands in front of him.

“I mean, I want to help you. You obviously were having troubles before…” He traced a finger across the top of the empty bowl and looked sideways at Frisk. “And, I know that quite a few people are looking pretty hard for you. Dr. Alphys included. But don’t worry darling! I’ve got your back.”

“Question number two! Would you smooch a ghost?”

Frisk looked up at the robot with a dazed look in their eyes. Mettaton laughed at this.

“I’m just joking, darling! What we need to do now is come up with a plan!” 

Frisk nodded. They needed a plan.

Chara whispered in the back of their mind: ‘I’m too tired of this, I need a break.’ A pressure that Frisk hadn’t even noticed lifted off of them. Their mind cleared completely, and their headache completely vanished. Frisk felt like themself, which was strange, because they hadn’t noticed that they weren't feeling like themself. Mettaton kept talking about ideas for plans. Frisk listened quietly, but made no move to say anything.

The quiet swishing noise of the front door opening filled the room. Both Mettaton and Frisk froze. The sound of feet tapping on the tiled floor rose up to them. Mettaton motioned for Frisk to stay put, and wheeled off down the stairs. Frisk jumped off the bed and walked over to the top of the stairs, filled with curiosity.

From their vantage point, they could see that Alphys had entered the lab. Their coat was looking a little bit dirty, and they looked tired. Their glasses were smeared with what looked like tear stains.

“Why, hello Alphys darling!” Mettaton said. Alphys jumped at the sudden noise.

“O-oh, hi. I d-didn’t see you there M-M-Mettaton.” Alphys stammered. She dropped a bag by the wall. “what are y-y-you up to?”

“Oh, not much.” He glanced at the bag Alphys had brought. “Where were you?”

Alphys sighed. “I was just in Snowdin. With Undyne and those skeletons.”

“Oh really?” Mettaton said. “What were you doing down there.”

“W-w-we were j-just looking for…” She trailed off and started to glance around the room nervously. “We were looking f-for that human.”

Frisk leaned out into the doorway. They knew that they were being looked for, but they wanted to know how close they were getting.

Alphys continued to talk about their search. She mentioned that Undyne throught that Frisk would still be somewhere in Waterfall, as they couldn’t have made the trip so quickly. Mettaton glanced over at Frisk and motioned for them to hide. Alphys noticed hismoving arms.

“What are you doing? Are you malfunctioning again?” She moved over and started examining his arms. Mettaton pulled them back away from the scientist.

“I don’t ‘malfunction’” He retorted. Alphys frowned at him.

“Fine. But let me know if you have any troubles.” She turned away and walked out of view. Frisk tried to repostition so that they could see her again. She opened the fridge.

“Hey, Mettaton?” She said, pulling her head back out of the fridge. “Didn’t I have some leftovers? I thought I put them in the fridge, b-but they’re not here.”

She looked up at the stairway, and locked eyes with Frisk. They dove back behind cover, but they knew it was too late. They could hear Alphys’s gasp.

“M-Mettaton! Did you see that! I think that was Frisk.” She said. Frisk could hear her coming up the stairs. Frisk ran off towards the other stairwell, but they were too slow.

“Oh, um, that was probably nothing!” Mettaton said. “Just a trick of the light?”

He tried to maneuver himself so that he was between Alphys and Frisk, but Alphys pushed him away. Frisk tried to hide, but they were too late.

“Frisk, what are you doing here?” Alphys asked. Frisk started to run away.

“What do you think they’re trying to do?” Mettaton said, cutting in front of Alphys. She pushed him away again, calling after Frisk.

Frisk reached the other stair well and ran down towards the back door as fast as they could. Unfourtunaly, they weren’t very fast.

“Frisk, wait!” Alphys called out. She was getting too close. Frisk tried to run faster but couldn’t. “Frisk please! W-we need you! D-d-don’t be selfish!”

Someone grabbed Frisk from behind. Frisk screamed as they were being lifted up. With a sudden explosive noise, they were up in the air. Looking back, they saw that Mettaton was holding them as he hovered in the air, propelled by some sort of rocket.

“Alphys darling, I hate to turn against you like this,” Mettaton said. “But I am going to help Frisk get to the barrier. They want to free all of us, and, well, who am I to stop that? I know you’re going to be upset, Alphys dear, but they aren’t here just for you. Maybe you should take a step back and see who’s really being selfish here.”

Then Mettaton flew out through the door. He held Frisk tight against him, as they left the lab. His rocket only lasted a minute or so before it failed, and they fell onto the ground. Mettaton scooped Frisk back up and wheeled away, into Hotlands.


	19. Chapter 19

Mettaton glanced at the small child in his arms. Even though their plan wasn’t the best, based on what he understood, helping them could help his reputation once they were released to the surface. Besides, the look on Alphys’s face had been more than worth all the trouble of escorting a human around. 

The human in question had been very quiet since they had left the lab. They hadn’t said a word, even when Mettaton had tried to talk to them. He thought this was a little strange since they had been talking before. After a while, he decided it wasn’t worth the effort to talk to them.

Hotlands wasn’t the best place for travel. Lava churned below the walkways, occasionally splashing up and threatening to burn travellers. Mettaton always managed to shield Frisk in time, but some monsters weren’t as lucky. You could always hear horror stories of Hotland burns. Gusts of steam burst up from every space they could. Vents in the walls and floors all had the hot air blowing out of them. Frisk’s hair flew around in the constant assault of wind. Mettaton was glad that he didn’t have any hair to worry about in his current form, even though he wished that Alphys would hurry up and finish his other one.

Frisk squirmed in his arms, and so he put them down. 

“What’s wrong, darling?” He asked them. Frisk responded in sign language.

‘nothing. want to walk’

Mettaton shrugged, and turned to walk away, but Frisk grabbed his hand. Out of instinct, he jerked his hand back, but Frisk had a good grip on him. They looked up at him. Mettaton glanced at their hands, Frisk’s wrapped around his own. After only a slight hesitation, he grabbed at their hand as well and they continued on their way. 

It was nice to have someone hold his hand. Mettaton usually didn’t like physical contact. A=fter all, in the grand scheme of things, he was pretty new to having a physical form. Alphys had only created his current body a year ago, and he had joined with it after a few months of it being ready. He hated having people touch him, he didn’t like how they could move him around, and he was terrified of being hurt. He never told anyone his fear, but every time he passed anything that was the slightest bit dangerous, he wanted to run in the opposite direction. Frisk’s touch was different. Instead of feeling like a potential danger, it felt like somewhere safe.

Mettaton glanced down once again, this time to look at Frisk’s face. They appeared calm and almost...happy. This came across as odd to him, as this child, who couldn’t be older than 7, could be walking to their death. The only explanation Mettaton could come up with was that just like how Frisk felt like a safe place to him, he felt like a safe place for them. 

But still, that seemed impossible. Frisk didn’t know anything about him, for all they knew he could be what robots are on the surface. Just computerized chips that couldn’t do anything. Not something that was capable of having actual thoughts and emotions. The look on their face seemed to prove that they didn’t care about that possibility.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he barely noticed when they had reached the elevator. Frisk pressed the button, and stood back while they waited for it to come down. The elevator opened in front of them almost immediately, and they stepped inside.

Once they were inside, and the elevator started to move, Frisk began to sign up at Mettaton: ‘needs music’

“What’s that darling? You want elevator music?” He asked. 

Frisk nodded. Mettaton thought for a bit. He could probably play some music, his robot body was capable of it, but he knew that with other monsters, they were often weirded out by what his body could do. With one look down at Frisk’s hopeful face, he knew that they wouldn’t mind.

“Well sweetheart,” He said, preparing the music. “You’re in luck”

Frisk jumped up and down exitedly, as the music began to play. Almost instantly, the small human was dancing around the small space, twirling and skipping and ‘frisking’ about the cramped elevator. Mettaton laughed as he watched Frisk. They smiled up at him and tried to pull him along to dance with them.

“Darling, I don’t think this form of mine is exactly cut out for dancing,” He apologetically smiled at them. Frisk frowned up at him and crossed their arms. Mettaton smiled more sincerely at this childish act. 

“What’s wrong? I’m enjoying watching you, and I think you’re an excellent dancer,” Mettaton tried to pacify Frisk once again. 

“It will be more fun if you dance,” Frisk sighed to him. Mettaton’s smile fell slightly when he realized Frisk wasn’t going to let it go. 

“But- Frisk, sweetheart, I don’t want to ruin your dance,” Frisk vigirously shook their head at that statement. 

“You’ll make it better, you’re a great dancer. I’ve seen it before” Mettaton was sure that if he was able to he would have tried to leave, but he wasn’t able to in such a small elevator. 

“Oh, but that- I wasn’t like this,” He tried to make it sound as light as possible, but by Frisk’s expression he could tell he didn’t do a good job. 

“I’ve seen you dance. You’re really good, please just dance with me,” Mettaton reluctantly took Frisk’s out stretched hand. The smile on Frisk’s face made it all worth it. Mettaton had never seen anyone smile that much, and it made him feel like he was doing good by dancing with them. 

Imagine that. Doing good by just dancing with a child. As Frisk began to twirl him in circles, Mettaton began to laugh again. 

The door to the elevator opened, and the two danced out the door together, but didn’t move any farther. They simply stayed dancing by the door. They danced until Frisk tripped over their own feet and fell down to the ground. Moving quickly, Mettaton grabbed them as if he was dipping them down. Frisk burst into giggles.

Mettaton set Frisk back upright.

‘See?’ They signed ‘You’re such a pretty dancer!’

Mettaton stopped. He got called many things while in this form. Some good things, some things that sounded good, but felt bad. Things like, ‘wow, I can’t believe you’re actually a robot,’ or ‘You’re pretty handsome for a robot.’ Some of the things people said were downright nasty. He had been called names and had been shunned by people for being a freak. Frisk didn’t seem to care about any of that. 

“Well, sweetheart, I learned from the best.” Mettaton said. “I learned from you.” 

Frisk giggled again, then grabbed Mettaton’s hand and started walking with him to one of the last rooms before they would meet Asgore. Mettaton stopped, waiting for Frisk to realize and look at him. 

“Frisk, are you sure you want to do this? We’ve only just met, but I don’t want to lose you so quickly,” A ghost of a smile appeared on Frisk’s face.

‘I’m making things better for you. You can be a star on the surface and make millions of humans and monsters watching your shows. Things will be better.’ They signed.

Mettaton looked down at the small human. They had only been a part of his life for a few hours at most, but he already knew that he would miss them. 

“Well, darling, don’t die.” They nodded.

‘Don’t plan to’ They signed back. 

“I’ll see you up on the surface.” Mettaton said. Frisk smiled. Then they walked into New Home to confront Asgore. Mettaton watched the doorway they went through for a long time. He knew that he should be getting back to where he belonged. His show would be starting soon, and the monsters would be waiting for him. He decided that they could wait, and continued to watch the door.

Alphys found him like that many hours later, still watching the empty doorway.

 


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

The golden flowers of the throne room made Chara sick to their stomach. 

The light from above the throne room fell down on them, making them seem like they were glowing. They swayed gently as Frisk walked past them. They were a sight of perfect peace and gentle beauty. They reflected golden light all through the room, illimuniating the bent form of the King. Chara remembered how they used to call the King ‘dad’. They remembered how when they had nightmares, he would be there to comfort them in the middle of the night, They remembered how he would gently scold them when they burt Asriel while playing. They remembered how proud he was whenever they did anything of remote value.

Chara wanted to slap him in the face

Chara remembered playing in the same room that was now covered in their fragile forms. They remembered Asriel and the games they played together. They remembered Asriel’s gentle presence while they walked around New Home in silence. They remembered how he would stand next to them while they were in time-out, or when they Toriel was upset with them. They remembered how encouraging he was in every circumstance.

But they also remembered crying alone in the city.

They also remembered being miserable.

They remembered dying on the bed and feeling strangely free.

Chara remembered hacking Flowey into pieces.

Chara wanted to burn this place to the ground.

“Just a second.” Asgore said, standing up from his gardening. He straightened his back, and began to turn around. He gasped when he saw Frisk standing there. Chara smiled at the thought that he was really surprised to see them, even though they highly doubted he was even remotely aware of their presence.

“Oh, oh dear.” He looked away from Frisk. Chara could see the beginnings of tears in his eyes. Chara was surprised at how guilty they felt. 

He began to spout out some nonsense about it being a beautiful day, but the tears were beginning to leak down his face. Frisk stepped forward, reaching out to grab his hand. He pulled his away.

“Are you sure?” He asked in a whisper.

Frisk nodded. Chara said nothing. They felt an intense excitement. They could feel Frisk’s dread, but they didn’t care. They were finally going to do something right.

Asgore stepped through a doorway into a hallway. Frisk started to follow him, but stopped right before passing the hallway.

‘Chara, I don’t think this is right.’ They whispered. 

Chara froze. This is what Frisk always did. Every time they opened the barrier, everyone was happy. They all lived together and were happy. Was that not what Frisk wanted?

‘I think they need me down here first’ They whispered.

“no.” Chara said. Their mind was blank. The excitement mixed with what Frisk said, and it was confusing them. But they knew that this would work. They needed Frisk to help them make it perfect.

Frisk followed Asgore. They stepped into the barrier. The rushing energy swirled around them as they stood facing each other. The souls were lifted up out of the ground. There was one empty spot.

Chara was immediatly hit by voices, screaming, calling begging for help, for someone, for anyone, please help them, please help us, please!! please!!! please!!!!! Chara screamed inside Frisks head as the souls called out to them. The other human made no sign that they noticed any of the noise that Chara heard. 

Asgore was talking, but Chara couldn’t hear over the pleading, the begging, the screaming, the crying, the last words, the last thoughts, the last moments of the six humans who never made it to the surface. It rushed over Chara in a terrifying flood of sound and emotion. Chara screamed just to have something to anchor them. They clung onto the sound of their own internal pain to drown out the others. The noise did not stop, it grew, it crescendoed into a maelstrom of death and Chara tried to block it out but couldn’t. In the middle of the noise, they heard another voice. This voice was saying something specific. They couldn’t hear the words, but they felt the meaning. They were brought back to their runs. Not the ones they saw over Frisk’s shoulder, but their runs. They saw every kill they made, every last bit of EXP, and every LV they gained. The noise was too much. In a last desperate attempt, they called out to Frisk for help.

Suddenly, the noise vanished. Frisk soul was out in front of them and Asgore had his spear ready. They were going to fight. The rest of the world was dark, all that could be seen was the light of the magic of Frisk’s soul and Asgore’s hulking form. But there was something else in the dark of the beginning of the fight. Right in front of them, there was a very faint light. It glowed ever so faintly, especially next to Frisk’s soul, but there in front of Chara was a glowing soul.

It was Chara’s soul, the one they thought they had lost many years ago.

They cupped their hands and held their soul. Asgore noticed the light, and stopped fighting to look up at it. 

Chara looked down at the six souls behind the glass. They only needed seven. They only needed one more. Not two.

Chara remembered again. They remembered Frisk’s urgency to get down to the underground. Chara remembered how desperatly they pleaded with Toriel and did what they could never do before. Chara remembered Frisk’s bravery when fighting Papyrus. They remembered how gentle Frisk was with Papyrus’ cracks and bruises. They remembered how Papyrus crying was soothed by Frisk gentle presence. They remembered how Frisk was so kind and so caring to every one in the underground and how carefully they moved, not wanting to hurt anyone.

They remembered hacking Flowey to pieces.

They felt gross. They felt like crying and puking and screaming all at once. They had wanted to fix this broken world, but they had used what they knew. Rushing adrenalin and the familiar feel of a knife handle underneath their palm.

They looked up at Asgore. He was looking up at them, mouthing a single word: Chara.

They knew what to do.

‘Frisk?’ They asked.

‘What is it Chara?’ Frisk asked. Their eyes were still trained on Asgore’s spear. Chara didn’t know how to get out of messes with out hurting, but they knew who to trust.

They said nothing, but handed their faint soul to Frisk. Frisk looked deep into Chara’s eyes. Those eyes said everything that Frisk had been asking since Chara started this crazy journey: Are you sure?

Chara was sure.

Frisk passed the soul to Asgore. Asgore held it gently in his hands. Chara could feel a pull on their being. They knew that when this was over, so were they. This was final decision, no turning back. But they were ok with that. They were going to end fixing this world, and that was ok with them.

A small hand grabbed at theirs. It was Frisk. They were crying. 

“Thank you” They whispered. “Thank you.”

Chara smiled. Tears threatened to fall from their eyes too, but they blinked them back. They didn’t trust themself to speak, so they simply nodded.

“Chara.” It was Asgore’s voice. They turned around to see their former father standing with their soul in his hands. “Thank you Chara.” He said.

Suddenly, Chara felt themself rip apart. It hurt, but only for a moment, then it was just a blissful fading towards black. Just before they couldn’t feel anything at all, they thought they saw Asriel waiting for them, beckoning to come play in the fields of the surface, under the sun and by the sea. They were happy. And then they were nothing at all.

The barrier was broken.


	21. Epilogue

It had been exactly one year since the barrier had been broken. Papyrus was standing in front of his bathroom mirror. He gripped the edges of the sink and breathed deeply.

Even though it had been a full year, some things still weren’t better. Papyrus still felt uncomfortable walking home by himself. He still woke up screaming in the middle of the night on occasion. He still had episodes where all he could do was sit on the kitchen floor and cry. He still had days where he wore yesterday’s clothes and didn’t eat near as well as he should. He had times when he would look down at his arm and faint scars would jump out at him, and he would want to lay down and cry. Sans had days where he came home drunk, or refused to get out of bed, or just sat on the couch and dozed on and off when he was supposed to be somewhere. He had days where he didn’t feel anything at all. Papyrus and Alphys had nights where they stayed up all night and talked online, carefully avoiding certain subjects. They all had their bad days.

But some things had gotten much better. After some nagging from Toriel, Papyrus went to see a doctor about his panic attacks. He was given a service dog to help with the attacks, and that dog was half the reason Papyrus felt brave enough to go anywhere. They named the dog ‘Arial’, and she performed her duties well. She helped with the nightmares, and with the panic 

attacks, and Papyrus loved that dog. Sans had been prescribed medication, and that seemed to help. The two brothers supported each other as they slowly began to recover. Frisk lived with Toriel one street over, so they came over and visited every week. They seemed to love living up on the surface again. They came with stories from school, and played games with them. They sometimes talked for hours on end, and sometimes they said nothing, preferring to communicate with small signs. Papyrus and Sans had both gotten part-time jobs, and their house was beginning to stay cleaner than before.

Frisk had also been able to get a lot off their chest. After being on the surface for a few months, they had opened up to Toriel about how Flowet had gotten killed. Shortly after, they had told Papyrus, Sans, Alphys and Undyne.Undyne had been the most help to Frisk. Being head of the Royal Guard had put a toll on her, and though she deeply regretted what she had done, she also opened up to Frisk about the deaths that had been held under her hand.It seemed to help Frisk understand that it wasn’t their fault. 

It had been an entire year, and Asgore was holding a party to celebrate their arrival to the surface. All the monsters were attending, plus Frisk of course. Papyrus adjusted his tie. He had spent a lot of time preparing for the party, he had cooked his signature spaghetti, which had improved a lot since he had started cooking with Toriel on a regular basis. He had also made some butter tarts to bring, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Sans had eaten some behind his back.

Papyrus stepped out of the bathroom. Arial followed behind him. Sans was sitting on the couch.

“I thought I told you to dress up nice!” Papyrus scolded. Sans was wearing a button-up shirt, but was also wearing dirty old crocs and sweatpants. He simply shrugged.

“Sorry bro, this is the best I can do.” He said, standing up from the couch. Papyrus sighed in defeat.

“At least help me load the food into the car.”

Soon they were on the road towards the park where the party was going to be held. Papyrus was driving- Sans never passed the license test. The entire way there, Sans was telling stupid jokes, and Papyrus was begging him to stop. 

When they reached the party, the beginnings of a crowd was already there. Frisk and Toriel were there, helping to set up decorations and organize food. Undyne and Alphys were there. Alphys was trying to help, but Undyne kept getting in her way, trying to flirt. Alphys was blushing. Mettaton was there, following Frisk around and talking to them. Ocasionally, he would help Frisk with items they couldn’t reach or couldn’t carry. Asgore was there too, organizing all the helpers. Other monsters were arriving, some with food, some with musical instruments, some with games. Everyone was smiling and laughing.

Papyrus put his food in with the rest of the food. Frisk ran up to him and hugged his legs, talking quickly about some game they wanted to play later. He assured them he would play it with them, and they ran off again with a smile. Sans had gone off to join Alphys and Undyne. It looked like he was helping, but he was probably just chatting with the two of them while pretending to help. 

Papyrus grabbed Arial’s collar. There were a lot of monsters here, and he was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed, but she pressed close to his leg, and he took a deep breath. He calmed down quickly, and joined Toriel with the food preparation. She greeted him with a smile and immediately put him to work, moving pots of food and setting tables. After a half hour of work, Asgore stepped up and addressed the crowd of monsters.

“Welcome everyone. As you all know, we have made it to the surface. The barrier is broken and we are free!”

The crowd cheered, clapping and whistling. Papyrus clapped along with them, smiling hard.

“Yes.” Asgore continued when the noise had died down. “We have waited a long time to stand here, and we are here to celebrate that we finally have fulfilled the dream of monster kind. But, this would not be possible without sacrifice. We need to remember the lives that were taken so we could be here.”

A hush settled on the crowd. Everyone bowed their heads. Everyone thought about the seven human souls that were needed to free them all.

“We also need to remember those who never got to see this dream be realized. Let’s remember those who died, locked away from the surface.”

Another hush. People thought about friends, loved ones, family and neighbours that never left the underground.

“It is important for us to remember, but it is also important for us to celebrate. Let’s eat and drink as friends and neighbours! Let’s share past memories, make present memories, and anticipate future ones!”

Everyone clapped again, and the party started. People ate, and drank and talked. Papyrus sat with Frisk, Toriel, Sans, Undyne and Alphys. Arial sat by his chair. They talked and ate together. It didn’t take long for Sans and Undyne to get pretty drunk. They started to sing some old bar song together, loudly and horribly off-key. Frisk joined them, even though they didn’t know the words. Some of the people from near-by tables joined in on their song. Alphys took a secret video. After the singing, Frisk began to talk about their school, about friends and teachers and homework. Papyrus listened intently, even though he knew nothing about school. Alphys and Undyne got into a loud discussion about anime. Sans fell asleep on the table. Someone pulled out an instrument of some sort and began to play music. Frisk clapped their hands excitedly and pulled Papyrus into a clearing and began to dance with him. They spun around and skipped along to the music. Arial joined in, darting around the pair of dancers. Doggo and Dogarmy got into a discussion of barks and yips with Arial. At some point, Mettaton joined their dance, followed by a few more monsters. Some joined the musicians with more instruments. The dance blurred together in Papyrus’s mind, into a happy mix of color and sound. One time he was spinning Frisk around while they giggled, at one point he was line dancing with Toriel. At one point he was doing some sort of Tango with Mettaton, despite not knowing him too well. When he got tired of dancing he went back to the table with Arial and talked with sleepy and drunk Sans.

The sun went down and the moon was just beginning to rise above the horizon when they started to pack up the party. Frisk had fallen asleep, so Toriel carried them to their car. Alphys and Undyne kissed goodnight and went their separate ways. Sans piled into the car beside Papyrus, and began to doze off again, with a smile on his face. Arial jumped into the backseat.

Papyrus waited in the parking lot for a while, reflecting on the past year. He decided that it had been a very good year. With a smile on his face, he pulled out of the parking lot and started his journey back home.


End file.
